Contact: Brittney Dabney, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing
Taslyn Ware a junior sales and marketing major from Delaware says she's always been intrigued with the institution of museums and their historical significance and would often visit numerous museums growing up.
"I often noticed the lack of diversity in workers and historical artifacts. The museums I visited highlighted the impact of patriarchal figures within society but failed to feature women and people of color who equally contributed to historical success," said Ware.
During her tenure at Tuskegee University, Ware says she been given the opportunity to expand her understanding of cultural preservation and art conservation. She was first introduced to the idea of museum curation by her English professor Dr. Bond.
"I met with representatives from Princeton University Museum and Winterthur Museum in collaboration with the University of Delaware at the Legacy Museum to discuss potential internships," Ware recalled. "From their presentations, instantly I became intrigued with the importance of diversifying art conservation and the dire need to immerse the museum space."
Ware was afforded the opportunity to receive an internship experience focusing on cultural preservation and conservation with the Distance Learning Introduction to Practical Conservation (DIP-C) with Winterthur Museum in collaboration with the University of Delaware and the Archives Research and Collaborative History (ARCH) with Princeton University.
“The knowledge I have obtained from both of my internships has enabled me to better understand cultural preservation and art conservation. From this, I will be able to educate others and elevate the field. In regard to my future field work, I would like to use my degree in sales and marketing to reach minority demographics, helping them grasp the pertinence of understanding history through art,” she explained.
Ware says she hope that though her experience she can spread the message to her peers to reiterate that our history, art, and archival projects matter.
“Although I was introduced to the conservation field this year, the biggest challenge I have faced is figuring out ways to decolonize art history and introduce more Black students to cultural preservation. In many of the discussions I had within my internships, the focal point is how to diversify the museum world,” said Ware
"By studying museum conservation, young Black students can fully comprehend why our anecdotes are so important," she added.
Click here to view Ware’s interview with CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/art-of-history-preserving-african-american-dioramas/
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