AIC's 51st Annual Meeting

If “callings” exist, it happened to me; or perhaps the work I was doing pre-pandemic was entirely unsustainable. During the global health emergency and national awakening to racism in America, my identities as conservator and white mother of two Black sons collided. Working from home, while parenting a preschooler and monitoring a kindergartener on Zoom, was overwhelming. My younger son, then two, asked me “what color am I?” and if “the police would shooted” him. So when the Collective of Black Conservators convened in July 2020, to “Demand Racial Justice in Conservation,” their framework became my beacon and guidepost. Thoughtful and consistent offerings from AIC’s Equity and Inclusion Committee, like Confronting our Biases to Transform Conservation and Dr. Nicole Robinson’s Race, Power & Responsibility were deeply impactful. In addition, I pursued three years of anti-racist facilitation training, shifting my practice of conservation to include social justice and equity at its foundation. My conclusion at midcareer, is that without immediate change, our field is unsustainable. Owing to academic and experiential requirements, the pipeline through conservation education, generally 80% white and 76% female, takes approximately 9-11 years. Internships and fellowships are limited and require frequent moves. Conservators earn low paying wages in often expensive cities. Mid-career advanced training is restricted, financially challenging, and/or requires travel for extended periods of time. Those who advance into conservation leadership positions do not necessarily have management training. While foundations, individual donors, and museums are beginning to invest in diversifying the field; those efforts do not fully address the impact of the predominantly white, female frameworks within conservation. These challenges raise pressing questions: How do we sustain (and thrive) in our profession? How do we create prismatic networks? In collaboration with the AIC membership and others, I aim to develop a Conservation Leadership Program focused on social change and sustainability. In our profession, we touch and hold history in the most intimate way. We are bridge-builders, multilingual across art and science, connoisseurs in the sense of deep knowing, and connectors of past and present. Most importantly, “Conservators help shape what our society values by making decisions on what to preserve, whom to include in our work, and therefore whose stories we remember.”—Collective of Black Conservators. Working together, we must also re-shape our profession. This proposed Program and its educational framework seeks to impact how we sustain in our work. Here, people will be intentionally prioritized first, above cultural heritage, representing a shift in our field. Empowering future conservation leaders means providing them with tools to navigate uncertainty, set equity at the foundation, and reach their full potential while building generative networks. With the experience and engagement of our membership—and others outside our profession, this Conservation Leadership Program will create pathways to tell more honest and complete histories of cultural heritage and build more equitable and sustainable futures. The time for reimaging systems is now. How will you answer your call?