RANDALL SILVERMAN

o With support from the Cahoon Lectureship Fund, Preservation collaborated with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and Utah State History to invite Seattle-based art conservator Lisa Duncan to teach a two-day, statewide photograph conservation workshop. Held May 6-7, the workshop’s goal was to improve preservation standards for photographic collections throughout the state. Hosted in Preservation’s Lab, the workshop was attended by representatives from University of Utah Museum of Art, Utah Division of Arts & Museums, Utah State Archives, Utah Historical Society’s Collections and Local History Services teams, Alf Engen Ski Museum, Brigham City Museum of Art and History, Cache Valley Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum, and the Hyrum City Museum. Lisa Duncan provided clear, accurate information about care and exhibition of historically significant photographs. The workshop provided insights into the complexity of photographic deterioration and clarified professional conservation principles of practice related to their care. A hands-on introduction to the treatment of photographs included surface cleaning, guidelines for handling, matting, framing and mount making, and solutions for long-term care, storage and exhibition. Educational and enjoyable, the event led to our beginning to develop cooperative material ordering protocols to ensure all the cultural institutions in the state can provide high-quality preservation care for their historic photograph collections.

Worked with State Archivist Ken Williams to begin designing a conservation lab facility within Utah State Archives, and next year train staff to do basic paper conservation. Preservation also assessed the condition of the Utah State Constitution and made minor paper repairs as necessary, and is now assessing the condition and next year will repair the two earliest docket books owned by Utah State Archives.

• Damage Assessment for Temple Israel, West Bloomfield, MI – 28 April - 2 May 2026 In the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attack perpetrated against Temple Isreal on 12 March 2026 I collaborated with disaster recovery firm Belfor on a pro bono basis to conduct a condition assessment of the synagogue’s 15 torahs. The attacker filled the bed of a pickup truck with $2000+ worth of fireworks plus 35-gallons of gasoline, drove the truck into the synagogue and lit the combustible material. The fire filled the building with smoke rich in heavy metals. The FBI secured the building and investigated the crime, returning it to Temple Israel 24-hours later. The question I wanted to resolve was whether the torahs were damaged by the attack. Working with Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny I examined each of the Temple Israel’s torah scrolls. While the mantles covering the torahs had been drycleaned to remove smoke odor, the torahs were completely smoke free. This outcome was surprising and inspires me to write an article for publication concerning the ark as a protective storage unit and its potential to safeguard torahs from fire and flood in the modern era.

University of Utah Taft-Nicholson Fellowship

Following a face-to-face meeting with director, Frances Jordan-Rakestraw and Program Coordinator Michelle Burdex of the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa, OK, I worked with an HVAC engineer to help design the environmental specs for the Cultural Center’s first archival storage room. The Greenwood Cultural Center’s collections document the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre which resulted in the deaths of 300 residents and the complete destruction of what was known at the time as the Black Wall Street. The archival storage room will provide a cool, dry environment in which to preserve the Greenwood Cultural Center’s photo and newspaper collections related to the Massacre.

Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters

Fulbright

American Library Association