Danny Gonsowski, #FashionForConservation

Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, Danny Gonsowski is interning with the conservation department at the Center of the West. He has earned a BA in Japanese studies with a minor in anthropology. While pursuing a career in acting, Danny decided to switch gears after watching a YouTube video of Sarah Scaturro, a conservator at The Met’s Costume Institute. 

Having always had a passion for textiles, fashion history, cultural studies and science, this was a full synthesis of all Danny’s interests. This encouraged him to seek his first internship at the Georgia Archives in Morrow, Ga.

Danny says his position at the Center of the West has been filled with valuable and meaningful experiences in object handling, stabilizing, and repairing. Through hands-on activities such as weaving, acid dying and indigo dying, he has been exposed to a range of textile projects. 

Now, he is pursuing a career as a costume textile conservator and is working on accruing hours to gain the experience needed for a graduate conservator program.