Feb 2020 Workshop

It was a quiet year here at the studio.

I taught my last Mountmaking Workshop here in February of 2020. The March and April workshops were cancelled as soon as I realized that nobody was likely to be traveling, especially to Seattle, the epicenter of the Pandemic. Since then, I’ve occupied my time with a little bit of mountmaking, some cabinet work for our home, and a bit of banjo restoration. I was thankful to have a safe place to escape to while my wife Betsy, a physician, continued to care for people at the clinic. Likewise, I was lucky to have just enough money coming in through small jobs and a small PPP loan to maintain the shop. (With many thanks to my very understanding landlord!)

A bit of banjo work during the pandemic.

The 7^th International Mountmaker’s Forum last October was a huge thrill, with people coming together virtually from all across the globe to present and discuss mountmaking. We covered time zones from 4 AM in New Zealand to 8 PM in Prague as we talked about the odd puzzles we work through. This amazing event really buoyed my spirits in the midst of a pretty grim time. It was also a great model of how we can share our experience and knowledge without having to be physically together. That said, I’m looking forward to sharing time directly at next year’s Forum at the Getty!

Burke Museum Fossil Crab for Ray Troll Exhibit

Moving Forward:

Now, with a major portion of the US population getting vaccinated, and Springtime bringing flowers, outdoor visits, and a general sense of hope, I’m feeling that it may be time to open the studio for in-person workshops again. I’ve put together a set of proposed dates and I’d appreciate feedback as to whether people feel comfortable attending a class at this time.

In the past, workshops have had as many as six participants. They were exciting and high energy with constant movement and lots of ideas being exchanged. It also meant a lot of fairly close contact and waiting for machines and fire tables. They felt very much like the push toward the exhibit deadline, but without the need to work all night.

For the coming workshops, however, I’ve decided to limit the class size to three participants. The need for a bit more space feels appropriate, and I believe I can do a better job of teaching when I can offer everyone more individual attention. The tuition will likely be a bit higher as a result, but I feel it will prove worthwhile.

For participants, I am asking that everyone be fully vaccinated against COVID so that we can relax around each other and operate mask-free. We will want to assess any safety issues involved in travel. If you have concerns you’d like to discuss, I encourage you to contact me and we can explore options. We’re all feeling our way along in terms of opening up safely so I want everyone to be comfortable with how our time together is structured.

At this time, I am planning on offering the five-day general mountmaking workshop. I would also like to hear from people who might want a more specialized session. Over the years, we’ve discussed ideas for workshops focused on seismic stabilization, textile mounting, mannequins, or mountmaking strategies for traveling exhibitions. I’m very open to suggestions and ideas for new offerings.

This is important.

The IMF is for us all.

Finally, I invite people from all communities to participate in the workshops. In the 30 years I’ve spent in the museum exhibit field, I’ve sadly felt it to be a very white and male profession. In my previous workshops, I’ve been thrilled to have a good balance in terms of gender, but it’s still been a pretty pale group. Museums are a space where stories are told with material culture, and mounts give life to the story, and safety to the objects we display. We seem to be coming to a time of reckoning with our history and there are stories that will need to be told to help us through to the next phase of our society. I hope people from the Indigenous, Black, Asian, and all other communities will join in the workshops. If you are someone, or know someone who may be interested in learning mountmaking skills, please contact me.

Proposed Workshop Schedule:

• July 12^th-16^th: Mountmaking for Exhibits
• August 23^rd-27^th: Mountmaking for Exhibits
• September 20^th-24^th: Mountmaking for Exhibits
• October 18^th-22^nd: Probably Mountmaking for Exhibits, but possibly another workshop if interest warrants.
• November and on… Dates and subjects to be determined.

I will have registration pages set up early next week and that will have final details on costs.

I’m also feeling more comfortable with the possibility of doing on-site trainings again. If your institution would like to have a targeted workshop, or possibly sponsor a regional event, please contact me and let’s see what we can come up with.

Stay safe everyone!

Jamie