update from our scholar

I am writing with an update on my summer preservation work. I have been with the South Street Seaport Museum, where I am a part of the restoration team for their fleet of ships. So far, I have worked on restoring some of the historical wooden features of the Wavertree, their largest ship. This has included scraping, sanding, and re-varnishing balustrades and railings. I have also had the chance to try blacksmithing and other metalwork! We are currently working on forging new pins for the rigging system, in which the process begins with molten metal and ends with newly polished cylindrical pins. 

I have really enjoyed my time doing hands-on work and watching an active restoration come to life right before me. As the summer progresses, I will be sure to send more updates. My relationship with the Seaport Museum's restoration team will also not end with the summer; I plan to continue working with the team throughout the rest of the year when my class schedule permits. 

This coming fall, I am enrolled in 5 courses: Thesis I, Advanced Studio III, Stone Brick and Terracotta, Architecture Metals, and a workshop called MAKE. In addition to these course I will also be a Teaching Assistant to the first years in Studio I. I am very excited for this coming year and can't wait to update Questers on my thesis project and my classwork! 

Madeleine Gwyther