Current Members
Nicole Passerotti is the the Director for the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation. As an objects conservator she’s had the opportunity to work with indigenous and archaeological collections, as well as decorative, modern, and fine art. She’s collaborated with artists, scientists, curators, and community stakeholders in labs in the U.S., England, Mexico, and Turkey. Along the way she’s learned to approach objects, individuals, cultures, and values with curiosity, care, and respect. Throughout her career she’s worked to encourage more diverse practices and practitioners in conservation. As a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, she helped to establish a partnership between the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, NY and the nearby SUNY Buffalo State Art Conservation program, where she earned her M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Study. Recently she worked with the Native North American collection at the Field Museum in Chicago. She was also a program assistant for Untold Stories in 2019. There is a clear need to diversify our voices in order to be a more inclusive and equitable profession. She’s thrilled to be part of this program to expand the voices, expertise, and stories of underrepresented students in our field.
Bianca Garcia is the Associate Director for the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation. She was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and discovered a love for art conservation while in high school. This led her to the University of Delaware where she received a BA in Art Conservation and a Minor in Art History. Her various internships informed my passion for paintings conservation and taught me that every object holds a life story, from its creation to its present condition and all its caretakers along the way. It is this intangible component that she seeks to discover in every treatment. She received her MSc in Paintings Conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, and currently works at the Balboa Art Conservation Center in San Diego, CA, as Assistant Conservator of Paintings. She first became involved with the Mellon Diversity Program in 2018 as an invited instructor and soon after became Program Manager. Her experiences working in different institutions and parts of the country have taught her about the diversity of people and experiences other than her own. Her own personal path as an immigrant and Latina conservator allowed her to recognize the importance of this program and the need for mentorship opportunities as we seek to increase diversity in the field of conservation.
Lisa Imamura joined the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation in 2025 as a Research Associate. She grew up on Áak’w Kwáan Aani and began her journey into conservation at the Alaska State Museum. After training in objects conservation at Queen’s University in Canada, Lisa has continued to learn through experiences in Canada, the United States, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Jasmine Keegan is the Program Assistant for the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation. She hails from New Jersey, a state rich in arts and culture, which has played a significant role in shaping her career path. As an alum of this program, having completed it in 2021, She’s excited to bring her firsthand experience to her role on a team that has made a meaningful impact on the field of conservation.
Former Members
From 1983-2005 Ellen Pearlstein was an objects conservator at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, where she participated in NAGPRA. In 2005, Ellen assumed a faculty position in the UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Material. As a member of the founding faculty, Ellen and her colleagues designed curriculum, outfitted a laboratory, and Ellen began teaching graduate classes in the conservation of organic materials, ethics of working with indigenous communities, preventive conservation and managing collections. In 2008, Ellen joined UCLA’s Department of Information Studies, and invited students interested in library and archive materials into her preservation and management classes. Ellen’s research includes conservation of featherwork and basketry, effects of environmental agents on collections; pre- and post-Hispanic qeros from the Andes; and inclusion of community and curriculum development within conservation education. Ellen is a Fellow in both the International and American Institutes for Conservation, winner of the Keck award, and President of the Association of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation. Ellen is the former PI/ Director (2017-2025) for both the pilot and implementation stages of the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation.
Laleña Arenas Vellanoweth is a textile conservator and cultural worker in Los Angeles, CA. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry and B.A. in Art from California State University, Los Angeles and MA in Art History and Certificate in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She has held conservation positions at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtandNatural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She then worked as an independent conservator at the Autry Museum of the American West, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. During a conservation education fellowship for the UCLA/Getty Program, Laleña co-wrote the grant for the Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation and served as the Program Manager for its first cohort. She is currently the Conservation and Collections Manager for the Civic Art Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation 