{"id":245052,"date":"2012-05-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/displaying-the-treasures\/"},"modified":"2012-05-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T07:00:00","slug":"displaying-the-treasures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/displaying-the-treasures\/","title":{"rendered":"Displaying the \u2018treasures\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Diego History Center exhibit unearths rarely seen artifacts, offers education on curatorial process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Dave Fidlin | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regardless of venue, most San Diego museums feature a rich assortment of artifacts from days long gone with polished displays and accompanying placards. The numerous, laborious steps taken before spectators have an opportunity to take in an exhibit are featured in the San Diego History Center\u2019s (SDHC) exhibit \u201cLocal Treasures from The History Center\u2019s Collections.\u201d<\/p>\n

SDHC staff is giving visitors an opportunity to understand the organization\u2019s curatorial process that includes acquiring, processing, cataloging and preserving a variety of artifacts through the exhibit. The process is designed to give future generations an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate photographs, a variety of objects and other items from former eras. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe collect a wide variety of items, and they come from a wide variety of sources,\u201d said Tammie Bennett, registrar with SDHC. \u201cThis is a great opportunity for people to get an idea of what we collect and how we go about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the ways SDHC acquires artifacts for display, Bennett said the majority of SDHC\u2019s collection, approximately 99.8 percent, is acquired through donations. The exhibit will showcase newly acquired and previously unseen artifacts donated to the museum to highlight this facet of the process. <\/p>\n

Bennett said there are some notable features of the current exhibit, including a swath of images taken by renowned local photographer Edward H. Davis, whose works included depictions of Native American life. The exhibit includes 43 black-and-white images of a 1936 trip Davis took to Baja California.<\/p>\n

A sampling of other artifacts include a 1911 high school cookbook, photos depicting the construction of the towering NBC building in downtown San Diego and images of a 1978 flood that ravaged portions of Mission Valley.<\/p>\n

At times, an item is willed to the museum. In a few rare instances, the organization will purchase an item. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these items demonstrate an important part of San Diego\u2019s history,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the display, those with memberships to SDHC will go behind the scenes with an in-depth explanation of the process by a SDHC docent.
\nPotential donors can call the SDHC and make an appointment to discuss an artifact. Donations could be declined for a number of reasons, including the size of the object and its condition. If the SDHC already has a similar item in its collection, staff members refer donors to a different organization.<\/p>\n

If museum staff believes an item is a good match for SDHC\u2019s collection, the offer will go before an acquisitions committee for final approval. <\/p>\n

Bennett said the process isn\u2019t taken lightly since the SDHC is ultimately responsible for the item once the organization assumes ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we take something, we do so with the intent it will be preserved for future generations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With preservation in mind, all items in the SDHC collection are stored in a climate-controlled environment that is low in humidity and away from direct sunlight. Lighting in storage areas is filtered through ultra-violet technology. Potential contaminants \u2013 including dust \u2013 are examined routinely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take many steps to make sure all items are being taken care of properly,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

Once an object is in the SDHC\u2019s collection, staff members go through a cataloging process that includes assigning a numerical designation to ease the process of locating a particular item.<\/p>\n

Most items in the museum\u2019s collection are intentionally displayed sporadically \u2013 again, with preservation in mind. A majority of the objects in the current exhibit have been acquired within the past five years and have not been on display within the SDHC in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal Treasures from The History Center\u2019s Collections\u201d is scheduled to run through May 31, though Bennett said it is possible the exhibit could be extended for a longer duration with other items rotated into the display as others are put back in storage.<\/p>\n

At a Glance<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHAT: Exhibit, \u201cLocal Treasures from The History Center\u2019s Collections\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily <\/p>\n

WHERE: San Diego History Center inside Balboa Park, 1649 El Prado, Suite 3<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Diego History Center exhibit unearths rarely seen artifacts, offers education on curatorial process By Dave Fidlin | SDUN Reporter Regardless of venue, most San Diego museums feature a rich assortment of artifacts from days long gone with polished displays and accompanying placards. The numerous, laborious steps taken before spectators have an opportunity to take […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Displaying the \u2018treasures\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11593,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-no-images","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}