Jennifer Payan is an archivist, collections management specialist, and digital preservation consultant serving cultural institutions, artists, families, and private collections in San Miguel de Allende and Southern California.
DACS metadata, archival rehousing, and standard cataloging used in world-class museums.
Preventive solutions tailored to high-altitude sun, dust, and humidity in historic adobe and stone properties.
Seamless dual-country archiving and digital management between Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
Discreet, calm, and respectful handling of personal family histories, legal papers, and valuable artwork.
Professional Background & Approach
With a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from San Jose State University and a Bachelor's in Art History from UCLA, Jennifer Payan brings rigorous institutional standards directly to private residents and creative studios in San Miguel de Allende.
Her professional background includes processing artist papers and monographs for the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation in New York, curatorial and registration operations at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and public art conservation in Southern California. She combines archival discipline with warm, discreet personal consultation tailored to the unique microclimates and colonial homes of Guanajuato.
Archivist & Collections Management Specialist
San Jose State University (MLIS) • UCLA (BA Art History)
Specialized archival management designed for the distinct communities of San Miguel de Allende and the Bajío region.
Transform your studio backlog into an organized, discoverable lifework. We catalog finished works, studies, exhibition histories, press clippings, and correspondence for galleries, catalogs raisonnés, or future retrospectives.
Preserve multi-generational memories without stress. We organize vintage photograph albums, heirlooms, ancestral letters, immigration documents, and personal memoirs into archival boxes and searchable digital collections.
Establish physical and digital control over your art collection. We provide provenance documentation, condition reporting, custom catalog records, and exhibition loan preparation for paintings, sculpture, and folk art.
Protect creative legacies and ease the burden on heirs. We conduct comprehensive estate inventories, establish preservation roadmaps, and prepare collections for cross-border transfer, foundation donation, or family stewardship.
Practical, standards-aligned care designed to make your physical and digital collections secure, discoverable, and enduring.
A focused, on-site walkthrough of your residence or studio in San Miguel. We evaluate environmental risks, identify fragile materials, and create a prioritized step-by-step roadmap tailored to your timeline and budget.
Sorting, rehousing, and organizing materials into acid-free boxes, archival folders, and Mylar sleeves. We implement preventive conservation strategies to protect collections against dust, UV light, and pest risks common in historic architecture.
Careful identification, chronological sequencing, caption transcription, and protective encapsulation for historic photographic prints, 35mm slides, negatives, manuscripts, postcards, and memorabilia.
Structured, respectful recorded interviews to capture the stories, voices, and context behind key photographs and documents, ensuring the narrative of your lifework or family history is preserved alongside the physical objects.
Curated high-resolution digitization coordination, standardized file naming, metadata tagging, and cloud backup setup (Google Workspace, Dropbox, ArchiveSpace) so your assets are accessible from anywhere in the world.
Strategic cataloging of studio outputs, creation of artwork provenance binders, catalog raisonné frameworks, and collaboration with estate planners to ensure an artist’s lifework is accurately documented for posterity.
Service Radius & Logistics
Serving San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato Capital, Querétaro, and clients dividing time between Mexico and the United States.
On-site archival services are available throughout San Miguel de Allende—including Centro Histórico, Colonia San Antonio, Guadiana, Atascadero, Los Frailes, Ojo de Agua, and surrounding rural estates. In-person consultations in Guanajuato Capital, Querétaro, Celaya, and the greater Bajío region are scheduled by appointment.
For clients who spend part of the year in the United States or Canada, Jennifer provides seamless cross-border coordination. Physical work is conducted during dedicated residency blocks in Mexico, supported by year-round remote digital preservation, metadata cataloging, and cloud collection management.
Planning an upcoming visit to San Miguel de Allende?
Reserve an on-site blockClear starting points in USD and MXN. Every project receives a tailored written scope following our initial consultation.
90-minute on-site walkthrough
Comprehensive evaluation of your collection's volume, condition, storage environment, and goals, followed by a prioritized written preservation plan.
Estimated Investment
150–$250 USD
MXN $2,775–$4,625
1–2 Full Day Sessions
Ideal for families, retirees, or individuals looking to bring order to accumulated photo boxes, vintage albums, letters, and important papers.
Estimated Investment
450–$850 USD
MXN $8,325–$15,725
Comprehensive Tailored Scope
Designed for active artists, sculptors, photographers, and private art collectors needing systematic documentation and physical control.
Estimated Investment
950–$2,200 USD
MXN $17,575–$40,700
Multi-Week Project Block
In-depth preservation of entire creative estates, multi-generational family archives, or institutional collections requiring deep processing.
Estimated Investment
1,800–$4,500+ USD
MXN $33,300–$83,250+
Common questions from San Miguel de Allende residents, artists, and families.
San Miguel’s high-desert climate experiences intense dry-season dust followed by humid summer rains. We use archival-grade acid-free enclosures, buffered archival boxes, and Mylar polyester sleeves that seal out ambient grit and moisture while allowing materials to breathe safely without off-gassing.
Because conservation-grade supplies (acid-free boxes, tissue, bone folders, photo sleeves) are difficult to source locally in Guanajuato, Jennifer coordinates the procurement and transport of museum-standard supplies directly for each project.
Yes. Jennifer is fully bilingual (English and conversational Spanish) and experienced in cataloging cross-border family records, historical deeds, Mexican art documentation, and American/European correspondence.
Archival work is deeply personal. We establish strict confidentiality boundaries before beginning, ensuring sensitive financial, legal, or personal correspondence is handled with complete discretion and kept private.
We schedule intensive hands-on physical sorting sessions during your periods in San Miguel de Allende, and continue digital cataloging, metadata cleanup, and cloud synchronization remotely year-round.
Not at all. In fact, it is best to leave everything in its existing order! Contextual clues—such as original envelopes, box groupings, and handwritten notes—provide critical archival provenance that helps us organize the collection accurately.
Get in Touch
Schedule an on-site consultation or ask questions about preserving your collection in San Miguel de Allende.
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