Desmond Tompkins

Partner Organization: City of Surrey, Museum of Surrey, Surrey, BC and directed study. 

Desmond’s interest in collections care and curation led to a practicum with the Museum of Surrey combined with directed study. Areas of interest and mentorship included handling, housing/rehousing, preventative care, conservation, and condition reporting of belongings. Collections research and curatorial approaches were examined, in addition to resources for developing long-term belonging care and conservation plans.

Desmond’s experiences working with both the White Rock Museum & Archives and the Surrey Arts Council are now augmented by his collections care knowledge. He shares about the knowledge and opportunities provided through the Museum Lab:

From my initial internship at the White Rock Museum to my experience with KPU’s Museum Lab, I have developed strong abilities in research, artefact handling, and collections management. During my time at both the White Rock Museum and the Museum of Surrey, I cultivated my research skills using a variety of sources including general search engines like Google and more specialized archival databases such as Newspapers.com. Similarly, I have gained hands-on experience in belonging handling. Furthermore, my academic work in KPU’s Museum Lab course supplemented these skills, involving projects such as handling family heirlooms, creating mock condition reports, and crafting care plans. Together, these experiences have equipped me with a solid foundation in contemporary museum practices, making me well suited for future work in the field.