CPaCE News

Putting on shoes is a basic fact of everyday life around the world, but few places celebrate footwear like Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum (BSM). Housed in an iconic building by architect Raymond Moriyama, the BSM draws from a collection of nearly 15,000 objects to create exhibitions spanning the past 4,500 years—from ancient Egyptian sandals to today’s cutting-edge athletic sneakers. In Fall 2022, CSULB student Lisa van Wambeck walked through the museum’s doors as part of the Collections Management for Costume and Textiles professional designation program.

“I thought the program could be a good introduction to the museum world, and to working with textiles more formally,” Lisa said. “I was especially excited that it would provide the opportunity to be placed in an institution to do fieldwork.”

Working with the BSM’s collections manager, Lisa helped to update records of their collection of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis objects to reflect the correct names and languages that these Indigenous groups use themselves, instead of those imposed through colonization. This process is part of the museum’s efforts to make these historical and contemporary objects more accessible to people from related cultures.

“This felt like an important project that it was an honor to be a part of,” Lisa said. “It was great to gain familiarity with navigating the museum’s internal database, and amazing to spend so much time in storage with the beautiful moccasins, boots, and other objects.” 

PHOTO: CSULB grad Lisa van Wambeck preparing vintage shoes from the 1800's for display as part of her fieldwork at Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum

Before arriving at the BSM, the Collections Management program’s extensive reading list exposed Lisa to theoretical perspectives and contemporary issues in museum management and conservation, which provoked dynamic discussions with her classmates and instructors. Being able to access the course materials online at any time allowed Lisa to stay engaged with course work while maintaining her work schedule.

“I was really impressed by the width and breadth of relevant material we were exposed to in the course,” said Lisa. "The instructors were very knowledgeable and brought great practical insights from their own experiences working with textiles in different capacities, and I really valued the different perspectives everyone brought to the coursework.”

Lisa’s fieldwork also gave her the opportunity to draw upon her own previous experiences while contributing to another BSM project, which focused on the techniques and materials used for gold embroidery on antique shoes. As a textile artist, Lisa repurposes antique materials. She also works at a shop called Tinsel Trading, which sells supplies for doing gold work, among other vintage items.

“Overall, my fieldwork helped expose me to a range of practical experience and provided insights into many aspects of both collections management and conservation,” she continued.

Upon completing her fieldwork at BSM, Lisa completed the Collections Management program. She is now planning to pursue a graduate degree in textile conservation and continue working in the field.

“Ideally, I would love to gain some experience working in a museum setting, but ultimately would like to work as an independent textile conservator,” she explained, “balancing the production of my own creative work with contributions in the field of heritage preservation.”

Click here to learn more about CSULB’s Collections Management for Costume and Textiles program.