Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation
Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation
The Sublime: Art and Heritage Conservation at Industrial Sites
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What does “sublime” mean to you? Join us for an art history-meets-heritage conservation episode with recent graduate Ryan Holcomb. Like many of our students, Ryan fused seemingly disparate interests with heritage conservation in his thesis, Ponderous, Romantic and Awful: Tracking the Sublime within the Interpretation of Industrial Landmarks. He puts a name to that feeling we get—that mix of awe, wonder, even terror—from certain overwhelming experiences. He shares the role of the sublime in three case studies: Lowell National Historical Park’s Boott Mill in Massachusetts, Pittsburgh’s Carrie Blast Furnaces, and Ford’s River Rouge Plant near Detroit. Ryan tells co-host Cindy Olnick how he came to this unusual thesis subject, how the sublime affects our experience of industrial sites, and how it serves heritage conservation through emotional connection.