Recently a group of staff from the University of Iowa Library’s Conservation Lab journeyed up to Dubuque to install some pieces lent from the Iowa Women’s Archive (IWA) to the Dubuque Museum of Art. The materials and artwork are from the Josephine Pletscher Papers collection, donated to IWA by Kimberly Kirkpatrick Sparling and Ann Saylor in loving honor of Pletscher who was an artist, Iowan, and student of Corita Kent. The exhibit that the pieces will be a part of is called Just to Live is Holy which “features more than a dozen artists affiliated with a religious order, each of whom has made a unique contribution to our understanding of the relationship between art and faith and the importance of social justice.” Some of the most notable works on display were made by Corita Kent and these include the ones installed by Conservation staff generously loaned by the Iowa Women’s Archive.
In the words of Conservator Giselle Simon, “Staff couriered all the items and installed the work with assistance from the exhibit team at DUMA, who were excellent. We basically review the condition of each item before it leaves the UI, upon arrival at the location and then again when we de-install the work to assure both the borrower and lender that the materials are safely handled and secured. The 2nd photo is of us shows us checking the condition of items as we unpack them with the curator and exhibit staff as well as a team of preparators (including Bill) hanging the framed work. We have 4 framed wall pieces and 18 flat broadsides, cards and other printed materials in cases in the exhibit.”
The exhibit Just to Live is Holy will be on display through January 9, 2019 at the Dubuque Museum of Art. Check out the press release here.
More information from the Iowa Women’s Archive on the Josephine Pletscher Papers