About
Ancient Artways Studio was founded in 1995 in Wilsall, Montana. It was originally intended primarily as an art studio featuring the native American traditional arts. Over time the demand shifted more and more to the restoration and conservation of historic American Indian art objects. It now concentrates almost exclusively on providing the highest quality of conservation services for preserving ethnographic art in both public and private holdings, including treatments, collections care consulting, lighting and exhibit design, and offering analytical services such as the testing for harmful pesticides in collections.
Studio founder Nancy Fonicello is uniquely qualified in the conservation of ethnographic and cultural material, with a solid background in the sciences as well as an extensive knowledge of American Indian art and ethnography. Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude, from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She has studied Native American art for over 30 years, first as a student, then as a professional artist, finally as a teacher of native traditional arts. She is widely known for her expertise in the traditional techniques of porcupine quillwork, beadwork, and hide tanning and leather work.
In 2001, Nancy worked in the Conservation Lab at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, under a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, conserving and preparing objects slated for display in the Museum's new facility on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Commissioned by the Utah Museum of Natural History in 1999, Nancy interpreted the unique construction techniques and materials used in a ~1000 year old quilled moccasin in their collection and created documentary copies for public display and academic study. Nancy has taught traditional quillwork to Native American tribal students under grants from the Montana Arts Council, and has conducted numerous workshops around the United States. Her teaching curriculum is used by Aurora College in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, for their Traditional Arts Certification program.
Nancy is a founding advisor for the Material Culture of the Prairie, Plains, and Plateau annual conference series, and served as the conference chair in 2004 and 2005.
She is an associate member of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). Her clients include the Charles M. Russell Museum of Great Falls, Montana, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, the Utah Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution, and numerous private collectors.
Nancy with Bill Holm at the 2009 Material Culture of the Prairie, Plains, and Plateau Conference in Helena, Montana
