Warps and Weft: A Summer at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

 

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine towers over Morningside Heights, its gothic granduer and castellated grounds create a magical sanctuary in Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Cathedral Complex houses a biblical garden, ivory peacocks, a "unique" sculpture of Michael defeating Lucifer and in a neo-classical buidling the textile conservation laboratory.  In 1954 the church was given a generous gift of a 17th century Italian tapestry series. St. John's  has a long history, the land was bought from a orphanage in 1887 and after years of postponements from economic depression, World Wars and fire, it is still unfinished. On the right transcept arm still stands the orphanage, the oldest building in the neighborhood now historic, will not likely be torn down. It now houses the Tapestry and Textile Conservation Laboratory. 

As a resident of the neighborhood I was familiar with the Cathedral and after writing an email to the Director, Marlene Edelheit, I was thrilled to be offered my first internship in conservation. Looking back this was a very important step for me. After many rejections and dead ends I quickly discovered that internship positions for pre-program students, those students who are applying for graduate programs, tends to be a Catch-22. Most graduate schools require at least a year of hands on experience, but most internships want graduate students and there are so few opportunities for a beginner to let anywhere near actual artwork.

During the summer I worked alongside another intern from FIT's textile conservation program on two 15th century tapestries.  The major conservation step is the wet cleaning that is an all day affair even requiring us to arrive an hour early. After removing the gallon and lining and an initial dry clean the large, heavy and unweldly tapestry is rolled onto a washing table. After about 45 minutes for the wash table to fill with enough de-ionized water, the textile is gently dabbed with soap, soaked, water drained, rinsed and repeated several times. Tapestries are not always cleaned as often as they should and after centuries of hanging that are essentially filters to the debris from fireplaces and any other pollutants. And as a special treat while washing the smells of tobacco and soot are released mixed alongside the aroma of the wet wool used in the weaving. During the warmer weather my fellow intern and I wore rags on wet cleaning days and could often be seen from the opened portico doors of the neoclassical steps that looked out to the garden and roaming peacocks with the littering of tourist and camp children apronned, barefoot and carrying giant over-sized cauldron pots. Sometimes I felt like a medieval servant, that later would inspire this blog.

One evening an investment banker friend of mine said to me over drinks, 

"Sooo.... you are spending your summer in a hot non-air conditioned former orphanage, wearing rags, cleaning dirt off of a rug that smells of wet smokey dog... And for free?" 

"Yep, and I love every bit of it!"