The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 6, 2009 Page: 4 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4 NEWS
=
Class works to preserve art
f:
the Rice Thresher
Friday, November 6,2009
Good practice
for NOD
A group of students pass by in nothing but skin and
shaving cream during Halloween's famed Baker 13 run. Despite
conflicting with NOD, the tradition retained a large turnout.
Rent by Day. Week, Month
Furnished/ kitchen fully
equipped, all amenities
Private lake, walking track,
indoor/ outdoor, Jacuzzi,
swimming pool, exercise room
■ Laundry Facility
■ Free Wi Fi
- Minutes to Medical Center
RV Trailers!
(ask for details)
10650 SW Plaza Ct. • 713-981-6814
11991 S. Main St.'713-723-0973
NO LEASE/ NO DEPOSIT
Lakeview
by Hallie Jordan
Thresher Staff
In a rare combination of joining humanities
with engineering, Bioengineering Lecturer Mat-
thew Wettergreen joined four students in creat-
ing better storage for artwork at the Museum of
Fine Arts Houston.
The collaboration between Rice and the
MFAH began when Interim Dean of Humanities
Gary Wihl asked the museum's administration
about the possibility of collaboration between
itself and Rice's engineering department, MFAH
Conservation Director Wynne Phelan said.
Most museums, including the MFAH, store
art that is not on display in cardboard boxes
or wooden crates, MFAH Chief Registrar Julie
Bakke said. However, these boxes and crates
are problematic for several reasons. Not only
does their opacity make it difficult for curators
to find the pieces they want to show, but the
cardboard and wood emit gases that can dam-
age art, Bakke said.
Prior to Rice's involvement, the MFAH staff
had taken a trip to New England to examine the
way other museums store their artwork in the
hopes of acquiring a better means of art con-
servation. However, Phelan said they saw that
cardboard boxes and wooden crates were the
standard everywhere they visited.
After recognizing the need for better storage,
the MFAH began to work with Rice humanities
and engineering departments to take on the
task.
Twenty-seven students applied last spring
for four spots to participate in a new program
to achieve such measures, called Engineer-
ing Design for Arts and Artifact Conservation,
Hanszen College senior and project participant
Kristi Day said.
The students selected for EDAAC were Caleb
Brown, a bioengineering and visual and dra-
matic arts major; Rhodes Coffey, a mechanical
engineering major; Kristi Day, a civil engineer-
ing major; and Nicole Garcia, a chemical engi-
neering major.
Starting with a trip to the MFAH, the stu-
dents spent the summer working on their de-
sign project.
In addition to studying methods at the
MFAH, the students also did extensive art
conservation research on their own, Day said.
After these examinations, the students be-
gan brainstorming. Wettergreen gave each stu-
dent ioo note cards and asked them to write one
idea on each card in one hour's time, Day said.
The group then worked together to finalize their
ideas and picked the best seven to share with
the museum.
Following discussion with the museum, the
MFAH showed the group 20 pieces they could
choose to specifically work with. The students
chose a total of five pieces, one for each student
to individually create a container for and one
piece to design a container for as a group.
Though four of the five boxes designed are
currently undergoing minor modifications, the
museum hopes to have at least one storage
room filled with the containers, Bakke said.
"The students were incredible — they had nine
weeks to come up with concepts," Bakke said.
Day designed her project for "La Sordidez,"
a large statue of a lizard.
All of the boxes were made for three-dimen-
sional objects since the museum already has a
means of storing paintings, Day said.
To evaluate their prototypes, the group
utilized an engineering process called PUGH
analysis, which examines the pros and cons of
each design.
The final products for all boxes were made
with interchangeable parts, mostly plexiglass
and stainless steel rods designed to not emit
gases which could harm the art. The group
aimed to use parts that could be adjusted to
store artwork beyond the piece the container
was designed to hold.
For instance, the containers need not have
four sides, as the museum is climate controlled
so air exposure will not hurt the pieces. The
boxes are affixed with "elbows" on the corners
so that the rods may be attached at differing
angles, depending on the shape of the piece.
The MFAH intends to carry this project into
the future.
"We hope this will become a universal stan
dard," Phelan said. "We are at the beginning of
something that 1 think is rejuvenating for us."
Wettergreen is currently teaching a class,
ENGI 240: Engineering Art Conservation, on art
conservation to continue to try to turn the box
designs into prototypes.
Are you interested in teaching
or the education system?
Try some Education Certification courses.
Some of the classes available to you in the Spring include:
EDUC 305/505 - Educational Psychology
EDUC 310/510 - Intro, to Special Education
EDUC 315/515 - Adolescent Development
EDUC 325/525 - Adolescent Literature
EDUC 335/535 - Urban Education
EDUC 345/545 - Computers in Education
EDUC 470/570 - Field-Based Studies in Teaching & Learning
For more information about these courses come
meet the faculty at noon on Wednesday, November 11
in Herman Brown 09.
(Pizza and soft drinks will be provided.)
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 6, 2009, newspaper, November 6, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443152/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.