An occasional series about textile conservators who were able to train at the Centre thanks to the support that they received from the TC Foundation and, through the TCF, from our generous funders.
Lynn McClean
Principal Textile Conservator, National Museums of Scotland
Graduated 1993
Lynn McClean working on a Chinese wedding outfit for display. © National Museums of Scotland.
As a textile conservation student at the Textile Conservation Centre at Hampton Court Palace, when the programme was a three-year Postgraduate Diploma, I was grateful to the TCF for a three-year bursary which enabled me to complete the course. After graduating I completed a one-year internship with the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio, an experience which led to a career-long desire to set up an internship programme at National Museums Scotland, where I have worked for over 30 years and am now Principal Textile Conservator.
Over the years we have taken MPhil Textile Conservation students on short summer placements between their first and second years. These placements allow the student to experience a museum workplace and help them to consolidate some of the treatments and methods they have been taught in their first year. The students also bring current thinking and practise to our team so there is real mutual benefit to hosting such placements.
Lynn McClean with Textile Intern Emma Pattinson, graduate of the MPhil Textile Conservation. © National Museums of Scotland.
In 2022 we secured funding from donor Leslie B Durst and from The Clothworkers’ Foundation and were able to offer three 12-month internships. As a salaried member of staff the interns follow all our working practices and undertake a range of treatments for purposes like exhibitions, loans and storage. Time is built in for a project of their choosing which they feel will most develop their skills. All three of our interns to date have been graduates of the course and it has been wonderful to see both them and their careers develop after their year with us.
Thanks to further amazing generosity of our donors, Leslie B Durst and The Clothworkers’ Foundation we can offer a further five internships between from 2025-2031.