Fonda Portales, director of university arts, has been selected to participate in “Making, Collecting, and Conserving Prints: A Curatorial Seminar” granted through University of California, Los Angeles’ Hammer Museum Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. The project is designed to offer learning opportunities not commonly part of advanced academic study, which are critical to meeting the needs of 21st-century museums and collections and the communities they serve. Through in-person viewing and handling of artworks and artist’s materials, this seminar offers participants new modes of inquiry and tools for assessing, interpreting and caring for prints that will broaden the intellectual framing of their curatorial work. The cohort will gain familiarity with Los Angeles museum collections and field specialists in hopes of inspiring future projects and collaborations. This seminar is made possible with support from Getty through The Paper Project initiative.
Portales will join 11 curators from international universities and civic and academic museums in Los Angeles in May 2025. Her work will concentrate on Boise State’s 2022 acquisition of the Forrest and Lynne Geerken Print and Drawing Collection.