Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, this conversation explored how community-generated, spontaneously made posters and ephemera—not meant to exist beyond the few hours or days of a protest—become part of an institutionalized archive. Conservators and curators highlighted the historical, sociological, and cultural value of these materials, providing a behind-the-scenes look at conservation practices while discussing the significance of these items in times of social upheaval.
Speakers: Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham, photograph and paper conservator for the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute; Carol A. Wells, founder and creative director of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics; Tyree Boyd-Pates, associate curator of Western history at the Autry Museum of the American West.
This program was organized and moderated by Rachel Rivenc, head of conservation at Getty Research Institute, and presented in association with Getty's Radical Archive series.
This conversation was a starting point for future discussions about the importance of documenting the "long year 2020," a year that seemed to defy the standard calendar due to the momentous circumstances defining it.
This conversation took place over Zoom on November 10, 2020.
Learn more about this event:
https://www.getty.edu/visit/cal/events/ev_3240.html
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, this conversation explored how community-generated, spontaneously made posters and ephemera—not meant to exist beyond the few hours or days of a protest—become part of an institutionalized archive. Conservators and curators highlighted the historical, sociological, and cultural value of these materials, providing a behind-the-scenes look at conservation practices while discussing the significance of these items in times of social upheaval.
Speakers: Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham, photograph and paper conservator for the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute; Carol A. Wells, founder and creative director of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics; Tyree Boyd-Pates, associate curator of Western history at the Autry Museum of the American West.
This program was organized and moderated by Rachel Rivenc, head of conservation at Getty Research Institute, and presented in association with Getty's Radical Archive series.
This conversation was a starting point for future discussions about the importance of documenting the "long year 2020," a year that seemed to defy the standard calendar due to the momentous circumstances defining it.
This conversation took place over Zoom on November 10, 2020.
Learn more about this event:
https://www.getty.edu/visit/cal/events/ev_3240.html
