Conversations with Change Makers #11: Looking at Housing Designs & Microclimate Impacts

Includes a Live Web Event on 07/09/2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

Museums, libraries, and archives have been boxing collections since time immemorial. Offering protection from airborne pollutants and mishandling, boxes have also served as buffers, reducing fluctuations of relative humidity in the storage microenvironment.

At the same time, efforts to maintain and inspire access have often been at odds with the closed box concept. Our two speakers, Angie Yvarra at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford, and Stephanie Gowler at Northwestern University Libraries, have been exploring solutions to this conundrum in very creative ways. In select situations, they have also included environmental data gathering in their design processes. Each will present their work for about 20 minutes, and we will take questions at the end.

Organized by the AIC Sustainability Committee, this webinar is the 11th in a series of Conversations with Change Makers, where we address energy use and the environmental impact of the buildings in which cultural heritage is stored, exhibited, and studied.

Stephanie Gowler

Book & Paper Conservator

Northwestern University Libraries

Stephanie Gowler is the Book & Paper Conservator for Northwestern University Libraries. She holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in Conservation from the University of Texas at Austin, an MLIS and a Certificate in Book Arts from the University of Iowa, and BA in English Literature from Earlham College. Stephanie has worked in conservation at a wide range of cultural heritage institutions including the Indiana Historical Society, the Indiana State Library, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Bethany Theological Seminary, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive. She is a Professional Member of AIC.

Angie Yvarra McGrew

Preventive Conservator

Canton Arts Center, Stanford University

Angie McGrew is the Preventive Conservator at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Angie is an objects conservator who has worked on two move projects of Native American material: first for the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution collections move from the Bronx to Suitland, Maryland, and for the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, Autry National Center collections move from the historic Southwest Museum in Mount Washington to the Autry main campus in Griffith Park. In these moves she designed and constructed travel and storage housings and continues this work as part of her duties at the Cantor Arts Center. Angie is a Professional Member of AIC.