Rachel Coderre remembers the moment she knew she wanted to be an art conservator.
She was working at the Tampa Museum of Art as a preparator when she noticed a scratch on a painting. She felt an inherent responsibility to fix it, being that she’d previously worked with a restoration company and had “fallen in love with conservation.” But it’s a competitive field so she hadn’t pursued a degree. Seeing the scratched painting was the catalyst for her to apply to graduate school for a conservation program in Cardiff, England, where she was accepted.
That anecdote helped Coderre nab a $10,000 grant from Women’s Net, a national organization that awards monthly grants to female entrepreneurs. In October, she received its Startup Grant for her brand-new company, Coderre Conservation.
Now Coderre has the opportunity to win an additional $25,000 Amber Grant from Women’s Net. Every year, the organization chooses one grantee to get the additional funds, partially based on how many votes they get. Voting runs through Dec. 20 at via ambergrantsforwomen.com.
Coderre told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay she fell into conservation after getting her BFA in sculpture from USF. She found a job at the restoration company in Denver, where she honed her skills. After returning to Tampa and having that a-ha moment at the museum, she went to Cardiff University and recently completed her master’s degree of science in conservation.
“Conservation is the marriage between science and art,” she said. “I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and genuinely feel like this is my thing. I’m so lucky to have found my thing because a lot of people don’t.”
At 31 years old, that’s an accomplishment in itself. Coderre has been known in the Tampa Bay arts scene, throwing shows like 2014’s Pop Secret: 9:00 to 5:00 at her father’s office building while she was a student at USF. She was a fixture of the area’s blended arts and music scene, playing drums for the band Broom Closet.
The Women’s Net grant she received made starting her company possible, especially since she returned to Tampa just after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed more than $32 million in arts and culture grants from next year’s budget.
Being fresh out of school, she didn’t have startup money, Coderre said. Conservation materials run the gamut between specialized items to things you can buy from Home Depot.
While Coderre mainly focuses on conservation projects with private collections, she recently did a job for the Dalí Museum and is in talks with The University of South Florida.
It was important to her to start the business in Tampa, instead of New York where she’s had opportunities. She thinks having more conservators in the area gives Tampa credibility.
“I feel like it’s something to celebrate,” she said. “I’m coming back to where I’m from specifically to engage with our shared cultural heritage.”
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