Insights Tour: For the Future

Related Exhibition For the Future …Future Watch a recording of “Collecting For the Future” a curator talk with Luke Kelly, Emily Lawhead, Alisa McCusker and the executive director of the UMFA, Gretchen Dietrich. Learn More… Learn More Stacey M. Kelly is Director of Collections and Conservator at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), where she oversees the long-term care and preservation of nearly 23,000 objects, with special attention to the over 10,000 works on paper.

She also oversees the Museum’s Registration and Preparations teams, leads exhibition installations, and contributes to long-term collections strategy and planning. Kelly holds an M.A. with Distinction in Conservation of Fine Art, specializing in works of art on paper, from Northumbria University in the UK. She is a Professional Member of the American Institute for Conservation and a member of the Western Association of Art Conservators.

Before joining the UMFA, Kelly worked at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and cultural institutions in Scotland and England. She has conserved works by artists including Mary Cassatt, John James Audubon, William Henry Jackson, and Charles Russell, as well as illuminated manuscripts and significant historical documents.

How does an artwork make its way from storage to the gallery? I’ll share stories from installing this exhibition and some of the surprising challenges that come with getting art ready for display. I’ll talk about what happens when an object is too heavy, too fragile, too awkward, or simply refuses to cooperate, and how we think about its condition and long-term preservation along the way.

Explore more Insights Tours on the For the Future event calendar! Browse all For the Future events Header Image: Installation view of For the Future: Collecting at the UMFA 2001-2026 , at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 2026.