Caring for your Family Treasures
Do you have any heirlooms that have been passed down in your family from generation to generation? Perhaps you have your grandmother’s wedding dress, or your great-uncle’s scrapbooks, or your mother’s baby pictures. Items like these can be decades old and hold a precious place in your heart and in your home. After they have been passed to you, it is your responsibility to protect them so they can be enjoyed by further generations. Do you know how to care for them?
Museum L-A is hosting the “Family Heirloom Preservation Workshop” to teach the general public about the ways that they can care for their precious documents, photos, or objects and stop the damage caused by common environmental threats. Emma Sieh, Collections and Exhibits Coordinator for Museum L-A, will be joined by conservation experts from the Northeast Document Conservation Center and the Maine State Museum to provide information and tips on how to maintain and store your own collections.
“We want people to walk away with a deeper understanding about the precious objects they have,” Emma comments. “Caring for heirlooms does not have to break the bank but you can still find ways to prolong their lifetime so that your children’s children can enjoy them just as much as you do.”
This event will be held in the Museum L-A gallery on Saturday, August 25th from 10:00 – 3:00. Tickets are $50 per person and include access to the full day of activities, free catalogs and informational booklets, as well as a lunch catered by Fishbones American Grill. When you purchase your tickets, your name will also be entered into a raffle to win a door prize of preservation supplies donated by Gaylord Archival and University Products valued at $100! There are only 40 spots available for this workshop, so please visit Museum L-A’s website at www.museumla.org to register!
“Over the years, many people have asked us if we could help teach them on how to preserve their family heirlooms”, says Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Executive Director. “With the caliber of experts our Collection Department has been able to bring together, we feel the workshop will be a great learning experience for all who attend and we know they will leave with lots of guidelines for their own treasures.”
Museum L-A is located in the Bates Mill Complex at 35 Canal Street in Lewiston, Maine. Its hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm. Special tour requests and large group tours outside of these hours are available by appointment. For more information, please contact info@museumla.org or call 207-333-3881.
