Teri-
I think you could look at methods for quilt display and take ideas from there. Here’s a reference that gives you two ways to display quilts– one involves sewing velcro to twill tape and then sewing the twill tape to the quilt. The other involves creating a muslin sleeve. The hardest part will probably be dealing with the curved space, and you may need to have a support custom built to fit.
As to protecting it from sticky fingers, I think you’d be better off roping the area off rather than trying to cover the canvas with Mylar or some other clear covering, especially given the curved space.
I hope you’ll share the solution that you come up with! It’s an interesting challenge!
Rebecca