Clara Huisman joined the Faculty at the University of Miami as the Mellon Foundation Conservation Fellow in November 2019. In this role, she provides conservation services for the paper-based collections held by UM Libraries and the Lowe Art Museum. She is responsible for conducting condition surveys, implementing conservation treatment and housing solutions, and carrying out examination and analysis of distinctive collections materials and works of art on paper. In collaboration with conservation staff, curators, and digital program team members, she helps prepare collection items for digitization, exhibition, and loans.

Clara received her M.A and C.A.S. from the SUNY Buffalo State Art Conservation Program and holds a B.A. in Humanities with minors in Fine Arts and Art History from Florida International University. While pursuing her Master’s, she held internships at the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard Libraries and at the Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archive and was granted a Cathy A. Baker Fellowship at the University of Michigan Library. Prior to her graduate studies, she trained as a conservation intern at the University of Miami Library and as a technician at Art Conservator’s Lab, LLC. Clara is a member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the Guild of Book Workers (GBW).