By: Julio Poletti/ @JulioPoletti
Casey Mallinckrodt is an objects conservator with experience in a wide range of materials, from contemporary chocolate sculpture to bronze antiquities. Her areas of focus have been historic arts of Central and West Africa, Native American communities and Ancient Egypt, particularly of painted coffins. Casey is committed to working collaboratively within the museum and the larger community while generating learning opportunities for people entering the field. She received a master’s degree in conservation from the UCLA/Getty program and an MFA from the Yale School of Art.
Before joining the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Casey was the first object conservator in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art’s 180-year history. Prior to that, she was part of a curatorial conservation team studying the historic arts of Africa at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Casey is also a trustee of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. She joined DMNS in 2022.
What do you do as a conservator?
Conservators preserve, protect and prepare collections for exhibitions or for safe storage and handling. We use close observation, scientific analysis and scholarly research to learn about the materials and the way objects are made or why an object may be damaged or deteriorated. If necessary, we treat a damaged object. Conservators collaborate with curators and people with specialized knowledge from outside the museum in the understanding and interpretation of objects. We are committed to mentoring and teaching people entering the field.
In three words or less, what would you say your expertise is?
Object Conservation
Where did you get your MA?
UCLA/Getty Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials MA– recently renamed UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Material Culture. Yale School of Art MFA.
What do you look forward to in your new Museum position?
This position is a tremendously exciting opportunity on so many levels. I’ll be able to work on collections I have always been drawn to. I’m working with great people in our team of conservators, curators and anthropologists. We’ll be enhancing the analytic capacity of the already excellent conservation facilities, and we’ll be bringing the community into our work – virtually and in person– to gain knowledge and share ours.
What are you most passionate about in your field or life?
I’m fortunate to be passionate about my work. Conservation is interdisciplinary. It requires long hours (and days) of slow, careful work, as well as collaboration, public outreach and constant learning. My family is, of course, my number-one joy, and being out in nature is my pleasure and solace.
Can you share some of your publications?
Arts of Africa, Studying and Conserving the Collection; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts/Yale University Press https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300250923/arts-africa/
Mallinckrodt, Catherine. 2018. “Deterioration of Archaeological Wood” In The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Studies edited by Sandra Lopez Varela. John Wiley & Sons. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119188230 (Volume)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119188230.saseas0180 (Chapter)
Are you working on any research projects?
I’m always working on new projects, but I must keep them a secret until we’re ready to publish. Stay tuned! Visit DMNS.org for our latest research and discoveries.
Where’s home for you?
Saint Louis Missouri. But home of heart is coastal Maine, mount desert island. My daughter Leeds lives in Denver.
Learn more about the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's Avenir Conservation Center, here.