Mountmaking

At CUMNH, I built mounts for 3D archaeological and ethnographic collections. I worked primarily with perishable materials from archaeological sites. Some of the objects still had original field tags attached with wire that were actively damaging the objects, and were packed into or stacked in overcrowded cabinets. This is a sample of the variety of mounts I have made, which includes trays, window boxes, soft pillow supports, and oversize boxes.

I built transportation and storage mounts for taxidermied birds for the Fishing Bridge exhibit, a two-hour drive south from the Heritage and Research Center in Gardiner, Montana, their winter repository. These specimens are not in exhibit cases and must be rotated out every winter. They needed a way to be more safely moved from building to vehicle, as well as allow for stacking and stability during the ride. A lot of planning, sketching, and measuring was needed in order to build oversized but sturdy mounts with the available materials. I also followed freezing and vacuuming procedures when removing them from exhibit.