Renowned Conservator to Speak on Textile Preservation

Morgantown, WV, March 9, 2006: Fonda Ghiardi Thomsen, director of Textile Preservation Associates, Inc., will be speaking on her 30 years of experience in textile preservation. Her exhibition and preservation experiences range from Revolutionary War artifacts to Lincoln assassination garments, Civil War flags and contemporary residences.

Ghiardi Thomsen has evaluated, treated and exhibited historical flags of Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, and West Virginia. She has been consulted on projects at Fort Sumpter and the National Museum of American history’s exhibit on the Star Spangled Banner. She has furnished exhibits at Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson’s and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farms, Ford’s Theater, Gettysburg and Fredericksburg National Military Parks, Sagamore Hill, Thomas Edison’s and Carl Sandberg’s homes, and George Washington’s sleeping and dining marquees in York town, Virginia.

Fonda Ghiardi Thomsen has served as conservator of Organic Materials for the Smithsonian Institution, and conservator and chief of conservation for the National Park Service in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

The presentation is on March 13 at 3pm in White Hall, Room 110 and is open to Larry Sypolt’s Museum and Archival Management classes. Space is very limited for the public. For more information, please contact Sypolt at Larry.Sypolt@mail.wvu.edu.

W-V-U