Framing the Diploma

My mother never displayed her Traphagen School of Fashion diploma.  It was never matted nor framed.  At some point, it slipped into a box for storage.

Long-term storage has been kind to this diploma.  It’s in good shape.  Probably if it had been matted and framed 61 years ago, it would be in poorer shape today – it would show more of the damaging effects of humidity, temperature, and light.

Fortunately, preservation strategies have advanced considerably over the past half-century.  With proper matting and framing, a diploma like this can be safely displayed without significant preservation concerns.

Jessica Makin, Manager of Housing and Framing at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, recommends a thoughtful investment in matting and framing when approaching an aging document like this diploma.  For preservation reasons, she cautions against purchasing a cheap off-the-shelf commercial frame for a job like this.  Treat yourself (and your current family and future descendents) to a quality presentation that simultaneously preserves and protects the document.

For this particular diploma, Jessie suggests –

For the mat:  An 8 ply thick mat made of 100% ragboard that contains zeolites (molecular pollutant traps).

For the glazing:  An acrylic UV glazing that will protect from 98% of all harmful ultraviolet rays.

For the frame:  A frame that is sufficiently deep to adequately protect and support the object.  Jessie cautions that many off-the-shelf frames are too shallow,

potentially capable of causing long-term damage.

Since quality framing is an expense, my wife and I usually put off matting and framing to a special occasion – and then give the framed item as a gift.  Most recently, I had a set of silverware framed in a shadow box for my wife’s birthday, preserving and celebrating a gift that she had received while a young girl.

© 2011 Lee Price

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