Jessica Walthew
Conservator
0009-0005-3586-9720
Jessica Walthew
Conservator
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Researches and treats works in Product Design and Decorative Arts and Digital collections, ranging from ancient to contemporary and across all media, preparing objects for loans and exhibitions and managing conservation imaging research across department areas
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Applies for and manages external grants for research and treatment of collections; supervises contractors, interns, and fellows
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Routinely lectures and publishes on issues of conservation of objects and digital media, with particular interests in plastics and sustainability
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Collaborates in research with Museum Conservation Institute and outside partners
- Co-curator, with Cynthia Trope and Kira Eng-Wilmot, "Nature By Design: Plastics" (June 8, 2019 - May 31, 2020).
Positions
- Conservator, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 2017 -
- Project Co-director, Preventive Conservation Field School, Moche, Inc. Archaeological Project, Huanchaco, Peru 2017 -
- Andrew W. Mellon Cultures of Conservation Fellow ; Adjunct Faculty, Bard Graduate Center 2016 - 2017
- Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2015 - 2016
Background And Education
Education And Training
- M.A. in Art History and Archaeology, NYU , The Conservation Center, Certificate in Conservation
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Walthew, Jessica, Lipps, Andrea, and Rogers, Wendy. 2024. "Defining Digital Design in the National Collection." Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, 20, (1) 198–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/15501906231220972. 2024
- Barack, Sarah and Walthew, Jessica. 2024. "Social Dimensions of Sustainable Collections Care." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2024.2369823. 2024
- Walthew, Jessica, Barack, Sarah, Senanayake, Nishan M., Lavin, Sarah J., Dorris, Hannah G., Carter, Jennifer L. W., and Martin, Ina T. 2023. "Imaging Analysis of Scratch Reduction in Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) (PMMA) Plastic with NOVUS Polishing Products." Studies in Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2023.2173040. 2023
- Barack, Sarah, Radin, Ben Fino, Lipps, Andrea, and Walthew, Jessica. 2021. "Planning for the Future Right Now: Riskscapes in Conserving Contemporary Design." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2020.1796377. 2021
- Walthew, Jessica, Barack, Sarah, Quinn, Adam, and Hill, Nolan. 2020. "Sharing Conservation Imaging Research with the Public." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 59, (1) 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2019.1690908. 2020
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Blog Posting
- Walthew, Jessica. 2022. "A Love Letter to Planetary." Cooper Hewitt Blog New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Feb 16, 2022. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2022/02/16/a-love-letter-to-planetary/. 2022
- Walthew, Jessica. 2022. "Year of Glass: 3D-Printed Glass." Cooper Hewitt Blog New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Dec 9, 2022. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2022/12/09/year-of-glass-3d-printed-glass/. 2022
- Walthew, Jessica. 2022. "Year of Glass: Feathers from Volcanic Glass." Cooper Hewitt Blog New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Sep 30, 2022. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2022/09/30/year-of-glass-volcanic-feathers/. 2022
- Walthew, Jessica. 2022. "Year of Glass: Specialty Glass with Special Effects." Cooper Hewitt Blog New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Oct 27, 2022. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2022/10/27/year-of-glass-specialty-glasses-with-special-effects/. 2022
- Walthew, Jessica and Godfrey, Jakki. 2018. "Conserving the Surtout de Table: Gilt Metalwork." Cooper Hewitt Conservation New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Oct 12, 2018. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2018/10/12/conserving-the-surtout-de-table-gilt-metalwork/. 2018
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Chapter
- Walthew, Jessica. 2023. "Lessons From the Commons to Move From Enclosure to Shared Stewardship." In Prioritizing People in Ethical Decision-Making and Caring for Cultural Heritage Collections. 1 ed. 42–52. London, England: Routledge. (https://doi.org/10.4324/b23092), https://doi.org/10.4324/b23092-5. 2023
- Walthew, Jessica. 2022. "Conservation in the Digital Age." In Collecting in the 21st Century From Museums to the Web. Zeller, Christoph and Enders, Johannes, editors. 132–150. Rochester, New York: Camden House Publishing. (https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv24cnsjw) 2022
- Walthew, Jessica and Barack, Sarah. 2022. "Conserving active matter in contemporary design." In Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art An International Conference Held in Mexico City, June 3–5, 2019. Rivenc, Rachel and Roth, Kendra, editors. 135–144. Los Angeles, California: Getty. 2022
- Barack, Sarah, Walthew, Jessica, Godfrey, Jakki, and Li, Yuyin Charlotte. 2022. "Fresh Eyes on Old Porcelain: Reinterpretation of an Allegory of the Four Continents Group." In Recent Advances in Glass and Ceramics Conservation: 6th Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Glass and Ceramics Working Group; 9–11 November 2022, Lisbon, Portugal. Gridley, Rebecca and Schussler, Victoria, editors. 71–79. 2022
- Walthew, Jessica, Mayberger, Evelyn, Hight, Alison, Scahill, David, and Serotta, Anna. 2017. "Collaboratively Thinking Forward: 3D Data in Conservation and Archaeology." In Engaging Conservation: Collaboration Across Disciplines. Owczarek, Nina, Gleeson, Molly, and Grant, Lynn A., editors. 266–278. London, England: Archetype Publications Limited. In Proceedings from the Penn Museum Love Symposium. 2017
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Conference Paper
- Barack, Sarah and Walthew, Jessica. 2021. "Politics, Race, and Objectification: Uncomfortable Encounters in the Conservation Lab." American Institute for Conservation (Virtual) 2021-05-11. 2021
Presentations
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Exhibit
- Trope, Cynthia, Walthew, Jessica, and Eng-Wilmot, Kira (Curators). 2019. "Nature by Design: Plastics." New York, New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2019-06-08 to 2020-05-31..
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Presentation
- Jenks, Joesphine, Lipps, Andrea, and Walthew, Jessica. 2022. Beyond the Archive: Preservation and Access for Web-based Interactive Data Journalism [presentation]. American Institute for Conservation Annual Conference, May 15, 2022.
- Walthew, Jessica. 2019. Collecting Contemporary Design: Planning for the future right now [presentation]. American Institute of Conservation 47th Annual Meeting, May 16, 2019. Uncasville, Connecticut.
- Lipps, Andrea and Walthew, Jessica. 2022. Collecting Digital Design Histories [presentation]. Graphic Design Histories graduate course, April 6, 2022. Virtual: Parsons School of Design.
- Walthew, Jessica. 2018. Conservation in the digital age [presentation]. Memorizing the future: Collecting in the 21st Century, October 5, 2018. Nashville, Tennessee.
- Walthew, Jessica. 2019. Conserving active matter in contemporary design [presentation]. ICOM-CC Living Matter, June 4, 2019. Mexico City, Mexico.
- Lipps, Andrea and Walthew, Jessica. 2021. Geographic Decentralization: Mapping Evolutions of a Digital Artwork [presentation]. College Art Association 108th Annual Conference, February 11, 2021.
- Walthew, Jessica. 2019. Rethinking Plasticity [presentation]. Conserving Active Matter: Materials Science, March 28, 2019. New York.
Contact
Location
- Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Department
