Read more about this project and the collection in previous posts.
Each summer, the Rakow Library hosts interns who help conserve the Whitefriars stained glass cartoon collection. The collection consists of 1,800 rolls with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 cartoons, which Whitefriars employees used as working drawings when assembling stained glass windows. The interns flatten, clean, and repair the cartoons so they can be digitized and made available to the public.
During the first two years of this project, interns conserved cartoons for windows installed around the world and around the corner from Corning, N.Y. They also visited several locations that featured Whitefriars stained glass to put the cartoons they treated in context.
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- Nicole cleaning a Whitefriars cartoon.
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- Natasa takes a photo of a stained glass window in St. Thomas.
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- Laura and Bonnie work with paper conservator Moya Dumville.
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- Laura, Bonnie, and Jim check out the archives at Temple Emanu-El with Curator Warren Klein.
This year, we are excited to welcome Colette Peavy and Pascual Ruiz Segura to the Whitefriars project. Colette and Pascual will treat additional cartoons from St. Thomas Church, New York, N.Y.; St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Olean, N.Y.; and Calvary Episcopal Church, Summit, N.J., to add to those conserved in previous years. They will also treat cartoons for several other institutions, notably several in Harrow, England, home of Whitefriars Glass, as well as Zion Lutheran Church in Stamford, Conn., and the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York, N.Y.
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- Colette inspects a a tinsel print from the Robertson Davies Collection, Queen’s University.
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- Pascual treats a poster.
Colette is currently earning her Master’s Degree in Art Conservation from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She specializes in treating paper, photographic materials, and new media. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art with a concentration on photography from the University of New Mexico. Between her degrees, Colette worked for several years in the performing arts as a lighting technician and scenic painter. Originally from Albuquerque, N.M., Colette hopes to return to the Southwest to work as a conservator. She is excited to work on the Whitefriars cartoons and gain more hands-on experience with paper conservation.
Pascual is also looking forward to working with the collection and sharing the “technical and human aspects” of the project on social media. He grew up in Valencia, Spain, and holds a University Degree in Fine Arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and a Master’s Degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage, specializing in the field of Paper Conservation. Pascual has previously interned at such institutions as the Institut Valencià de Conservació y Restauració in Spain, the National Library of Ireland in Dublin, and the National Archives of Estonia, in Tallinn and Tartu. He has also taught and held several contract and research positions at museums and universities in Spain and Estonia.
Read the interns’ full bios.
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- Colette and Pascual pose between shelves filled with rolls of Whitefriars cartoons.
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- Colette and Pascual examine cartoons with Moya Dumville.
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- Colette and Pascual unroll several cartoons.
Follow the progress of the 2017 Whitefriars project, and explore photos, videos, and blog posts from the 2015 and 2016 projects.
The Rakow Research Library is open to the public 9 am to 5 pm every day. We encourage everyone to explore our collections in person or online. If you have questions or need help with your research, please use our Ask a Glass Question service.