A Stitch in Time

I am Bethany Viviano - a textile conservator with training in Art History and Textile Conservation with emphasis on cleaning chemistry.

 

During my graduate education at FIT, I completed training in conservation ethics and treatments, fiber and dye identification, mounting and storage of both flat textiles and costumes, and proper treatment of associated materials.

 

I have worked on textiles of all shapes and sizes, from enormous 17th century Japanese silk to gilt paper flat textiles to 1960s synthetic leather boots to tapestry fragments of unknown origins.  This wide-ranging exposure has given me confidence in the research and treatment of a broad range of objects and materials.

 

I expanded my knowledge of the treatment of leather, associated materials, and textiles on objects through an internship, and subsequent contract work, with Gary McGowan at Cultural Preservation and Restoration in Belvidere, New Jersey.  While at CPR, I worked on objects from collections ranging from small, historic homes and regional museums all the way to collections travelling to some of the worlds largest institutions.  

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I was accepted to undertake specialized training in advanced cleaning and stain removal methods with Richard Wolbers in his renowned Aqueous Cleaning of Textiles Workshop, with further courses in the Modular Cleaning Program being taught in the coming years by Chris Stavroudis.  These courses instructed in the use of gels and conductivity to determine the best approach to cleaning for both the safety of the textile and the outcome.

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After completing my education, I went on to work at the esteemed Textile Conservation Workshop in South Salem, New York; one of only seven regional conservation workshops left in the United States, where I worked on a wide variety of cultural heritage objects both for private collectors and major institutions.

 

A reoccuring theme in projects that have found their way onto my work table at several workshops has been objects relating to the Silent Service.  I have had the great honor of working on ephemera from the USS Holland, USS Nautilus, USS Sea Fox, USS Dace, and the USS Barb, as well a large silk embroidery presented by Emperor Meiji of Japan to John Holland, "Father of the Modern Submarine," when he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his contributions to the Navy.  I am proud to work on cultural heritage objects of all sorts, but have particular fondness for objects which still smell of amine :)

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Since moving to Hammond, Louisiana, I have been in private practice.

 

This website is a comprehensive portfolio of my work chosen to show examples of different types of treatments, in different working environments, with different goals, and examples of the different types of reporting appropriate for the circumstances.

 

Thank you for your interest in my work.