June 23-29, 2005

artpicks

Nice Save

by Tami Fertig

Lecture

Nobody expects you to part with your grandmother's wedding dress. But an elementary-school macaroni project? Or your first fingernail clipping? Pack rats find reasons to save every broken chair and tattered shoe. But Don Williams, a senior conservator at the Smithsonian Institute, and writer Louisa Jaggar don't judge your belongings. According to the first rule of their new book, Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions, you alone must decide what deserves framing or trashing in the expansive "museum of you." After that, the two experts offer detailed instructions on how to preserve each item, whether it be a magazine, stuffed animal, wooden instrument or pile of dirt. "Think veggies" is the overriding mantra: Keep important possessions in cool, dry, dark places. And don't laminate them. This Sunday, Williams and Jaggar — baby clothes, family photographs and other sentimental objects in tow — will present affordable techniques for cleaning, handling and storing your treasures. Learn how to turn the pages of a very old book. Discover which metals should never be wrapped in plastic. Arrive early with one household object and get a ticket to the subsequent appraisal session with Freeman's Auction House. Representatives from Philadelphia's Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts will also be on hand to field specific questions about your stuff — valuables and invaluables alike.

"Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions," Sun., June 26, 1 p.m., free, National Museum of American Jewish History, 55 N. Fifth St., 215-923-3811.