Acrylic Glazing

Selecting mats and frames for a 1950 diploma from
Traphagen School of Fashion.

When choosing strategies for framing an object, Jessica Makin, Manager of Housing and Framing at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, says that the primary goal is always to protect the object.  Making the object look attractive is very important, but is nevertheless a secondary goal.

In terms of priority:

#1:  Protect the object.

#2:  Make it look good.

Jessica Makin, CCAHA
Manager of Housing and
Framing.

According to Jessie, you can do both by thoughtfully investing in an appropriate mat, a good frame, and acrylic UV glazing.

Acrylic glazing sounds good to me.  During 23 years of marriage, my wife and I have moved three times, in addition to moving nearly all the household contents when we had a flood in the house three years ago.  We’ve learned from experience that things break during a move.  It’s inevitable.

Among the more unpleasant moving experiences is finding shattered glass in a box with a framed item.  Broken glass can endanger the object in the frame, anything else in the box, and even injure the person doing the unpacking.

Memories like this come back to me as Jessie examines my mother’s 1950 diploma from Traphagen School of  Fashion.  “When framing, we don’t like to use glass;  we always recommend acrylic glazing,” Jessie says.  “While acrylic glazing can potentially scratch, it will never shatter. You don’t want to risk having shattered glass.”

© 2011 Lee Price