Amanda McLeod's Conservation Studies

Amanda Mcleod was born and brought up within a Canadian Indian tribe and wants to dedicate her skills of historical conservation and presentation to future generations. She was chosen by City & Guilds of London Art School for The Society’s Award for Conservation in 2012.

“Ani, (hello)! My name is Amanda McLeod and I am from the Sagkeeng First Nation (Ojibway) in Manitoba, Canada. With my first degree in History of Art and Native Studies I originally intended to pursue a career in curatorial and museum studies, but an incident in 2009 changed that course. While participating in a tour of the Glenbow Museum archives (Calgary, Alberta) and examining a number of Native American artefacts in the Museum’s storage collections, the curator made mention of work that needed to be done on many of the objects and how there were unfortunately very few First Nations professional conservators in the field. This piqued my interest, leading to extensive research of possible educational courses and of the field itself. I chose City & Guilds of London Art School (CGL) and officially enrolled the Conservation Studies programme in the fall of 2011.

I have a strong commitment to the retention of my Native American heritage and to the cultural integrity and preservation of all aspects of First Nations traditions, and I believe it is this commitment that will shape my future contributions to the growing disciplines of Native American art conservation and restoration.

I have had a great many fantastic experiences here in London and at CGL, and am very grateful for the support offered by the Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table. They provided not only a financial contribution to my studies, but also genuine interest and belief in my experiences, goals and aspirations.

Meegwetch (thank you)!