About
 

Sam Callanta is currently a National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) pre-program intern with the National Park Service (NPS), Harper's Ferry Center in Charles Town, West Virginia. She spends most of her time treating objects from external collections in the paper labs, but hangs out in the metals, textiles, and wooden artifact labs on occasion. After her time with NPS is complete, she will be starting a 10-week internship at the Cleveland Museum of Art, funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She graduated summa cum laude from Ursinus College in 2012 with a BA in East Asian Studies and Theater.

 

Before pursuing conservation, Sam was a scenic artist and stage technician.  As for other pre-program experience, Sam completed the Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation 2020/2021 Workshop and worked as a Conservation Technician with EverGreene Architectural arts. 

​

As a NCPE intern, Sam has been privileged to treat historic objects from various parks. Her treatments have included flat papers such as several freight documents and a lithograph, as well as dimensional objects such as a book set and a wooden field desk stuffed with documents. She also assists with documentation, including photography, proposals, and reports. In addition to day-to-day treatments, Sam has conducted research into modern day production of Japanese washi (traditional paper) and devised experimentation methodology for testing solvent-based chemical gels (organogels) for pressure-sensitive tape removal. 

​

Sam is interested in specializing in paper or Japanese painting conservation. 

​

*CV available upon request