Smiling man with short, dark hair and wearing a red and blue plaid shirt. His arms are folded across his chest.

Stanley student intern Brant Weiland is excited about the future. As he begins his final year of study towards an MFA in ceramics, he is helping Manager of Design, Preparation & Installation Steve Erickson prepare object mounts for the inaugural exhibition. Growing up on a farm just outside of Gilmore City in northwest Iowa, Weiland learned to blacksmith and weld from his father. Those skills are now being used to make custom mounting hardware for African masks that will be on display when the museum opens this August.

When the museum opens Weiland is looking forward to seeing how the historical and contemporary collections converse with each other. He is specifically excited to see the ceramic collection and the upcoming hand-built bicycle juried show. After graduation Weiland is hoping to combine his technical and artistic skills into employment in the field of exhibition design.

A flat, semi-circular metal mount with a welded rod extending out perpendicular to surface.
Two hands wearing purple gloves hold an L-shaped metal object mount with curved, wooden form attached to one end.
Interior of a wooden face mask with t-shaped metal bracket attached to the surface.
A wooden mask is face down on a padded surface. Inside the mask a metal bracket is attached to a metal rod that extend perpendicular from the back. The rod will be used to attach the mask to a mount on the gallery wall.
A wooden mask shaped like a dragon (fire-breather) sits on a shelf. In front, two hands in purple gloves hold a padded form wrapped in grey cloth that will be used as an insert to stabilize the mask on its wall mount.
Two hands wearing purple gloves hold a wooden face mask. Inside the back of the mask is a padded form connected to a metal bracket. There is a metal rod protruding from the bracket that will connect with a wall-mounted bracket in the gallery.

Metal object mounts with welded support rods will help secure African masks to the gallery walls.

Some masks will rest on a shaped, wooden support.

This African mask has a custom metal support secured to the interior surface.

The interior support connects with a custom mount, fabricated by Brant Weiland, which will connect to a bracket on the gallery wall.

Some masks require a cushioned, head-like interior support.

A cushioned mask support is connected to the metal mount fabricated by Brant Weiland and is ready to install in the gallery.