This past summer, UNMAM Collections Apprentice Misti Starkey-Jones expanded her conservation skills at the Introduction to Textile Conservation workshop at the Center for Collections Care (C3) at Beloit College in Wisconsin. 

The weeklong training introduced participants to fiber identification, construction techniques and condition reporting, along with hands-on practice in cleaning, humidification and storage. Participants also toured collections at the Logan Museum of Anthropology, Wright Museum of Art and the Beloit Historical Society.

Textile conservation is an unusually specialized field, and those selected for the workshop included both emerging and established museum, library, archive and conservation professionals. For Starkey-Jones, the experience connected her life and academic experiences, especially when she practiced techniques on a family quilt and a dress sewn by her grandmother, a former tailor for Singer Corporation. She comes from a family of seamstresses and has loved textiles for her entire life, she says. 

“Attending the workshop made me even happier with my decision to move in a different direction from what I’d been doing previously,” said Starkey-Jones, who transitioned to museum work after a career in nursing. “Having the hands-on experience was really reassuring. It confirmed that this is what I want to do.”

Gaining Professional Training Through Hands-On Learning 

At UNM, Starkey-Jones is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts focused on museum studies and costume design. Through UNMAM’s new Collections Apprenticeship program, she applies classroom learning directly to professional museum practice, which she says is invaluable. “It’s everything. It’s hard to get into the museum field because job postings ask for both a degree and hands-on experience. Being able to work academically while applying it here in the museum setting is so fulfilling. It just feels whole.” 

Launched to support Collections Year — UNMAM’s initiative focused on collections care — the apprenticeship program provides mentorship and professional training for select UNM students. Starkey-Jones is also completing a practicum in textile conservation at UNMAM, further confirming her commitment. “Actually doing the work and seeing how it is done, along with learning from the professionals around me who have been doing the work, gives me greater insight into it and reinforces that this is where I belong.” 

She says that being able to combine learning and doing at UNMAM validates that she’s in the right place, at the right time, in the right field. “That is what the museum is offering me. I love it.”