Presented by Erica Donnis, Michele Pagan. and Darlene Bialowski

Are you faced with a limited budget and/or limited staffing for collections care? We’ve got you covered! Being resourceful is an essential aspect of working in most collections care settings. Presenters will provide budget-friendly, real life tips for collections storage, display, shipping, conservation, and housekeeping and make suggestions for suppliers and other sources. This webinar will appeal to those with collections care responsibilities in a wide range of organizations, including museums, archives, historical societies, and conservation studios. Both paid staff and those working in a volunteer capacity are encouraged to attend.

Erica Donnis (she/her) has more than twenty-five years of experience working as a curator, archivist, and collections consultant in cultural heritage and academic institutions. Throughout her career, she has frequently been responsible for collections care on a shoestring budget. She is currently part of a team of Congressional Papers Archivists at the University of Vermont preparing Senator Patrick Leahy’s Papers for public access. A lifelong Vermonter, Erica holds a Masters of Arts in Early American Culture from the Winterthur Program and the University of Delaware.

Michele Pagan is a textile conservator in private practice, living in East Dorset Vt.  A native Vermonter, she has been practicing and still learning conservation techniques since the 1980s. Some of you may remember Michele from her work as the Director of the Collections Care Program for VMGA in the 1990s. Today, in addition to "preserving history one textile at a time", she is co-coordinator of the Search for VT Samplers, and is a presenter at Bennington Museum's Summer Teachers' Institute. 

Darlene Bialowski, a contract museum registrar and a fine & decorative arts appraiser, has been in the cultural heritage preservation field for more than twenty-five years.  She was the sole registrar for a 5 museum association and handled rotating exhibitions for two Smith & Wesson facilities. She has a BA in Anthropology with an emphasis on Archaeology and an Associate’s in the Administration of Criminal Justice both degrees conferred simultaneously from the American University in Washington DC. Darlene also is a certificated Paralegal achieved through the University of New Hampshire, a graduate of the Winterthur Institute, and is an accredited member of the Appraisers Association of America.  

There will be time allotted for your questions, both during the webinar and at a follow-up “Conversations with Colleagues.” 

We will follow up this event with a virtual Conversation with Colleagues on Thursday, April 4th at 12:00pm. All those who register for the webinar are invited to attend.

Pre-registration is required and a Zoom link for the meeting will be sent to you closer to the meeting date. Space in the workshop is limited to 100 participants. Please register by Monday March 25th.

If you can’t make it to the live event, you can still register for the workshop and we will send you the recording once it becomes available.

The cost of the virtual workshop is as follows:

• $15 for any non-member of CCCA who wishes to attend

• $10 if you have applied for and been accepted as a Professional Affiliate Member of the CCCA or have made a donation of at least $25 this year as a Friend of the CCCA

• FREE if you have applied for and been accepted as an Emerging Professional or Student Member of the CCCA.

You can pay with a credit card without setting up an account. If you need to pay by check please email us at collectionscarealliance@gmail.com

Your workshop fees and additional donations help our growing community of conservation and preservation professionals aid regional cultural heritage organizations in the care and conservation of their collections and materials.  As a non-profit corporation registered in the state of Vermont, the CCCA relies on the support of our membership and community to help us develop and promote affordable opportunities for training and networking and to improve the long-term preservation of these vulnerable collections. Thank you!