The Populist Conservator: A Sticky Case Study

Abstract

How do colleagues in related professions and the general public regard the conservator? As a scientist in a white lab coat, bent over an object with a tiny paintbrush in hand? The unseen expert referenced in family treasure shows on public television? As a pie-in-the-sky idealist whose best practices seem to belie an understanding of the limitations facing small museums and archives? This paper is an overview of the author’s research, borne out of necessity, on preserving a treasured—yet not well preserved—part of American popular culture: the bumper sticker. Such objects would rarely warrant individual conservation treatment, yet are held in many permanent research collections and small cultural heritage institutions. In the midst of a traditional, materials-science-based research project on how these items were made and how they changed and deteriorated over time, the author overcame her own and others’ prejudices about what constitutes an object worth preserving. Thus the goals of the research shifted outward: to communicating the preservation message for materials that usually do not receive conservation notice—such as these challengingly sticky and ephemeral objects—and to providing economical solutions for items widely held by institutions routinely strapped for funds. Surprisingly, once the work was couched in terms of its impact on the public, the public took notice. The bumper sticker project garnered significant interest in the popular press and blogosphere, and even resulted in a video created by the author’s institution. This example will contextualize a discussion of positive and accessible approaches toward publicizing the preservation of cultural heritage, in ways that make use of modern technologies.