For your information—see below!
Mary W. Ballard
Senior Textiles Conservator,
Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian
Institution
4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland MD 20746 U.S.A.
tel: 301-238-1210 fax: 301-238-3709
email ballardm@xxxxxx
--original message from Mary Frame--
As you may have heard, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., has recently eliminated
the position of "Curator of Western Hemisphere
Textiles". This move sends a signal that
the administration has a relatively low regard for the textiles of the Western
Hemisphere,
including those of the Americas
and the Andes. Yet The Textile Museum has one
of the
premiere collections of Andean textiles, which has been extensively studied and
published
by many highly regarded scholars.
Over a span of three decades, Ann Rowe as the curator has prepared exhibits,
organized
Andean textile conferences, edited issues of the museum's journal, conference
proceedings and catalogues, and written many other ground-breaking publications
based
on the collection. Her reputation as an expert and authority on textiles of the
New World is
global. Such unique contributions are usually rewarded by emeritus status, not
by the
termination of a position.
Assisted by Ann, a wide community of Andean scholars has studied and benefitted
from
The Textile Museum's collections. The value of her advice and expertise is
uncontested
and has always been generously given. Deprived of a Curator of Western
Hemisphere
Textiles, the value of the collection to both the general public and the
scholarly
community will be vastly diminished, and a stellar collection of Andean
textiles may
regrettably drift into obscurity and become essentially inaccessible.
In addition to the cutting of the Western Hemisphere curatorial position, the
Library hours
have been substantially reduced, the librarian (Mary Mallia) has resigned, and
the photo
archives coordinator (Jennifer Heimbecker) and shipping clerk (Diego Silva)
have been let
go, in efforts to reduce the budget deficit. With these particular cuts, the
museum has lost
key research support functions - collectively, more than half of the heart of a
scholarly
institution.
There is a possibility that an outcry from national and international scholars,
museum
professionals, and donors could influence these decisions, if letters to the
director (Daniel
Walker) and the President of the Board (Bruce P. Baganz) flooded in before the
Board
Meeting on September 19th.
Addresses for letters:
Daniel Walker, Director,
The Textile Museum,
2320 `S' Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008-4088
Email: dwalker@textilemuse um.org
Bruce P. Baganz, President of the Board of Trustees of The Textile Museum, 2320
`S' Street,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20008-4088
OR
2101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, apt.
73,
Washington, D.C. 20008-1760
Email: bpbaganz@earthlink. net
I know that all of you appreciate the Andean scholarship that comes out of The
Textile
Museum, and hope you will add your voices to protest the choice of cuts being
made.
Please do forward the note to people who might also want to write.
Best wishes,
Mary Frame