The Conserv team is growing! We’re thrilled to introduce Jenny Mathiasson as our new Regional Accounts Manager for the UK. Jenny is an objects conservator and collections care consultant based in west Wales, where she runs Kuriosa Conservation out of a bright yellow workshop. She is perhaps best known for being one of the founders, producers and hosts of the industry-leading podcast ‘The C Word: The Conservators’ Podcast’ since its inception in 2017. We sat down to chat with Jenny about her new role and what brings her here.
What is your role on the Conserv team?
As regional accounts manager I’ll be the go-to person in the UK: the hopefully familiar person popping up at conference stalls and events, the clickety-clack of the keyboard that’s replying to your emails, and the friendly face on the video calls. I’ll be the one you can have a chat with if you’re trying to figure out your environmental monitoring needs and hopefully we can find ways to look after your collection together. That’s what appeals about the role: I get to talk to people and find solutions.
What is your experience with collections?
Hands-on and varied! I trained to become an objects conservator because I just love the variety of things we get to see and look after: from taxidermied animals and historical costume, to rusty tools and shiny pin badges. I just love that tangible culture can mean so many different things. Plus I get to make things a little better, and I love helping people.
Mostly I’ve worked with museums, both big and tiny. All kinds as well: social history, archaeology, military history, natural sciences, industrial history, art collections, world cultures, university collections… I like skill-sharing, so I’ve done a lot of collections care training with archives and libraries as well, particularly as I’ve worked across Wales. I’ve also worked with some historic houses, so variety really is where it’s at for me.
Since starting my business in 2020 I’ve also gotten to work a lot with people outside GLAM: people who collect interesting things, or who want to get grandma’s knicknacks out of the attic, or who want to safely display the family photographs. That side of it is just as important: communities and individuals hold so much collective memory.
What excites you about Conserv?
The desire to be helpful, useful, adaptive, and a force for good: I think a lot of companies kind of bring out a product, maybe do a few tweaks, and leave it there. Conserv doesn’t do that: it iterates, it listens, it tries to do it differently. The community building and knowledge sharing particularly appealed to me, long before I thought about joining. Free resources, training webinars, AND a community where you can go for preservation advice? That’s a lot of awesome stuff, even before you consider the nifty hardware and intuitive software.
Where would you like to see Conserv going in the future?
I’d quite like it to become a bit of a household name here in the UK. Every sector has a few names that just about everyone knows, and it would be great if we could add Conserv to the ones GLAM folks over here just know. That takes trust and confidence, of course, but we’ve got a great track record already.
You can find Jenny on LinkedIn. Based in the UK and want to talk through your environmental monitoring needs? Book a chat with Jenny — she’d love to hear from you.
