In the summer 2023, Dr. Amy Nygaard and graduate students Michaela Peine and Madeleine DeGrace travelled to Amsterdam with the support of a Graduate Research Team Grant from the Center for Faculty Development at UST. Their research project titled, Decoloniality, Decentering, and Didactics: Close Analysis of Antiracism Methodologies in the Rijksmuseum, closely examined 77 gallery labels that were written to highlight each object’s connection to the human slavery for the museum’s 2021exhibition “Rijksmuseum & Slavery”. These 77 labels were juxtaposed with the existing object labels for that exhibition. When the research team visited the Rijksmuseum in 2023, many objects included in the “Rijksmuseum & Slavery” had new, what the team called “third label or reconciled” label that synthesized information from the previous two labels. With all of this text in hand, the research team set out to do a careful rhetorical analysis of labels.
Graduate Student
2024 Travel Highlights: Emily Ross in Chicago
Emily Ross (she/her) is a graduate student in the Art History department. She works at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and her focus of studies is on the reinterpretation of medieval art in later revival eras.
In April of 2024, she presented her paper, “Adorning Mary: The Brooch in Latter Quattrocento Florence,” to the Midwest Art History Society (MAHS) annual conference in Chicago. The paper focused on the presence of brooches in Madonna and Child paintings in Florence, and their relative boom in the 1460s and 1470s, corresponding to the height of productivity for goldsmith-painters and sumptuary law prescribing and limiting the wearing of brooches for women at the time. Other papers in the panel discussed violence and sensuality in Florentine mannerist sculpture and the continuous motif of Mary revealing Christ from under a blanket in Paduan art.
The conference was held at the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the various buildings that the School of the Art Institute owns, with keynote addresses surrounding the opening of the exhibition “Picasso: Drawing from Life.” There were also tours of the prints and drawings study room and of the Smart Museum’s Modern Meiji exhibition.
Emily’s talk was very well received, garnering compliments from those who had not even been in attendance but heard it was a highlight from those who did attend.
Renaissance Florence: Ghirlandaio’s quattrocento goldsmith promotional frescoes
In a seminar on early Renaissance Florentine art with Dr. Lois Eliason, Ingrid became interested in the frescoes of Domenico Ghirandaio (1448-94), one of the most celebrated artists of the late 15th century in Florence. Her research on his Birth of the Virgin (1485-90) fresco in the Tornabuoni Chapel at Santa Maria Novella became the foundation for her Qualifying Paper topic, and draws on a variety of methodologies – including stylistic, feminist, materialistic, and theories about sensory experience in art – to better understand the artist’s work and contributions.
Ingrid had two hypotheses that were crucial to investigate in-person: Firstly, how did Ghirlandaio intentionally introduce sound into his frescoes, creating a multi-sensory experience? Secondly, how did Ghirlandaio’s involvement in his family’s goldsmith business influence his art in comparison with his contemporaries?
Through a travel grant awarded by the Art History department, Ingrid was able to explore these questions onsite in Florence, providing her with an a wealth of contextual information that simply would not have been possible through digital or library research alone. Some particularly valuable scholarly experiences including attending a mass a Santa Maria Novella to experience the acoustics Ghirlandaio would have been working with, and the discovery of a golden plate at the Bargello Museum that was nearly identical to one depicted in Ghirlandaio’s Santa Fina fresco (1477-78). These will be important contributions to her qualifying paper.
2023 Travel Highlights: Michaela Peine in Boston
Michaela Peine (she/her) is a graduate student in the department of Art History. She is in her 4th semester at St. Thomas, and plans to finish the program in 5 semesters. Michaela’s area of interest is in the relationship between tangible/sensory qualities and psychological narratives in Italian Renaissance art. When she is not attending classes, Michaela works as a gallery guard at the AMAA, as well as with UST Campus Life. Off campus, Michaela holds an internship with the Cathedral of St. Paul, where she is working with their archives – developing an exhibit connecting their art and architecture to the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
In 2023, Michaela conducted research in Boston from November 9-14th . With Dr. Lois Eliason as her faculty advisor, Michaela connected with Frederick Ilchman, the chair of European Art at the Museum of Fine Arts. Here are some questions we asked Michaela regarding her research and her time at the Boston MFA:
Q: What was the purpose of this project? What was the content of your research?
MP: The panel that I’m writing my QP on (here) (Virgin Enthroned by Fra Angelico) is in the MFA collection, and I was able to meet with Mr. Ilchman to examine the panel, dig through their curation files, learn about the provenance, curation, and conservation of the piece. In particular, a lot of my theories about this panel were founded on the question of if it was double-sided. Mr. Ilchman confirmed that the panel was double sided, and I was able to read through the MFA’s documentation of everything that is known about the panel’s reverse.
Q: How were your days structured?
MP: I spent most of my time at the MFA. I first took a day to visit their collections and my panel again – while I was there, they had an amazing exhibit on that related to many of my research questions. I went back another day to meet with the European Art department and the conservation staff who had worked with my piece. Another day I spent in the Massachusetts Historical Society, where I looked through journals, photographs, and materials relating to the provenance of the panel.
Q: What was your favorite part of the findings/research results?
MP: In the curation materials about my panel was an old slide with a color photograph of the back side of my panel! The reverse of the panel was split from the painting, and is now separate from the work on display in the MFA, in a (very secret) private collection. This was the first time I saw any image of reverse, and it was incredible to have so many of my hypotheses supported!! I think I sent Lois an email entirely in capslock, out of excitement.
Q: Anything else notable about the trip/the work you did?
After I finished my work in the MFA, Mr. Ilchman brought me down (through many many levels of security) to the MFA’s collections to show me paintings and works not on display. At one point he pulled out a rack that had three paintings by Monet.
Summer 2023 Travel Highlights: Etruscan black-glaze pottery with Ingrid Cologne
Ingrid Cologne (she/her) is an Art History/Archaeology Graduate student at the University of St. Thomas. As a Graduate Student Assistant, she works in supporting the development of a South Italian pottery database with Professor Mark Stansbury O’Donnell. Ingrid’s academic interest is in Early Renaissance Florence, South Italian and Attic Pottery. Her favorite art historical activity is getting down in the dirt to excavate!
Over the summer, Ingrid worked with Dr. Francesca Silvestrelli, an expert in Etruscan, Attic, and South Italian pottery and professor of archaeology at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy. Onsite in the University’s archaeological laboratory, they processed a large amount of high-quality black-glaze pottery that has been recovered over the last 20 years from the Campo della Fiera site in Orvieto – an extremely significant area that is hypothesized to have been the seat of the Etruscan Fanum Volumnae: the elusive, all-important federal sanctuary where delegates of the 12 Etruscan regions would gather. Rich in material culture, the site was the last to fall to the Romans in the 3rd century BCE.
The project began with sorting thousands of pottery shards based on intensive stylistic analysis – examining each piece based on the quality of its glaze, thickness, rim-style, and diameter – which then allowed the team to categorize the shape the sherd likely came from. From there, the pair worked to identify joins: sherds that fit together to form a single vessel. Once the joins were established, Ingrid was tasked with restoring the pottery and creating archaeological profile drawings to document the vessels found for future research. Once this was completed, she analyzed the clay composition using the Munsell Color System, which involved close examination of the clay fabric to document color and texture, which then give important information on the mineral content and density of the clay that was used. Much of Dr. Silvestrelli’s recent scholarship has focused on kilns used to fire black-glaze pottery; so, she also taught Ingrid how to identify the visual markers that provide clues into the firing process. For example: a well-fired cup presents a luminous, even black gloss on both the inner and outer surface, but fragments with red or brown discolorations indicate problems during the final oxidized phase of firing, and grey fragments demonstrate incorrect temperature control during the second phase. When put together, all of this information provided valuable insight into the context of the massive amount of pottery sherds that were found at this site. A crash course in an archaeological lab, this opportunity provided Ingrid with invaluable hands-on experience that will be crucial to her success and competitiveness in the field after graduation.
Great Conversations Changed the Direction: Thoughts on Meeting Artist Andrea Carlson
Dakota Hoska is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Art History program. Dakota was awarded a Department of Art History Research Grant to support travel and research for her Qualifying Paper.
There’s a lot I thought I knew. I had seen Andrea Carlson speak several times, and I had watched many of her interviews. We hold her piece Sunshine on a Cannibal at the Minneapolis Institute of Art where I work, and I have seen it installed on a few occasions. I thought I had good insights on this artist as a topic for my Qualifying Paper (QP), but, even so, many things changed after I was able to travel to Chicago and meet with Carlson in person. The opportunity to travel to Chicago was supported through a grant from the University of St. Thomas Department of Art History. I am very thankful that I was afforded that opportunity because it really influenced the direction of my final paper.
Andrea Carlson is a deeply thoughtful artist with a very complicated deliberation process as it relates to the visuals found in her work. It would have been very difficult for me to whittle down which direction to take in my analysis of her work without meeting with her in person. Before going to Chicago, I had a 3 ½ page outline of things that I believed were possible to address in my QP. After meeting with Carlson, I was able to carve 2 ½ pages off my outline. Not simply because the topics were no longer relevant, but because after speaking with Carlson I realized the subjects were either SO meaningful for the artist that I would need considerable more time to address them than the QP allowed, or because I discovered the issues didn’t relate to the artist in the way I had assumed.
Traveling to the artist’s location allowed me to visit her museum, meet her friends, and tour institutions where she often serves as an advisor or where she simply goes for inspiration and learning opportunities. This helped me prioritize the subjects I wanted to address in my QP as well as develop a new and very important professional relationship.
One day, I would like to do the first major exhibition of Carlson’s work, as well as produce her first monograph. I don’t know if I’ll get that opportunity, but if I do, it is this trip that began my journey towards that destination. I think non-academics may assume that we scholars are sitting home in front of our computers with stacks of books in front of us, seldom seeing the light of day. (OK, that is very true some of the time). But I think the best scholarship is closely tied to the personal experience, and travel grants like this one help to make those kinds of individual encounters possible.
My deepest thanks go to the University of St. Thomas Department of Art History for my grant. It really changed the trajectory of my paper, helped me streamline my research, and allowed me create a strong and lasting relationship with this very important Native artist, who I’m sure will continue to be a focus for me throughout my career.
Abby Slawik is currently in her first semester in the Non-Degree Program in Art History. She is enrolled in Imaging the Other: Representation of/in Pre-Columbian and Early Colonial Mexico and Peru.
Where did you go as an undergrad and what did you study?
I went to NYU for studio art.
What was your career prior to your decision to enter the Non-Degree program in Art History?
I was a picture framer (design and production), as well as an art installer, for several years after graduation. I am also interning with a couple of conservation labs in the Twin Cities. These experiences have helped me understand some of the material language in the class.
What drew you to the University of St. Thomas?
Their course offerings are innovative, not overly generalized, and all have the potential for primary source study here in the Twin Cities. Also, they offer courses at night. I have a busy schedule during regular business hours with jobs and internships, so the class schedule really helps me out.
What advice would you give someone considering graduate study in art history at the University of St. Thomas?
Take advantage of all of the networking and professional development opportunities! The Twin Cities have a world-class, but accessible, arts community, and you WILL meet people who will help you out professionally. The arts/museum field is very competitive and sometimes you have to make it up as you go along. Don’t forget to stay flexible, stay interested, and have a plan B, and maybe a plan C too, just in case.
What are you currently interested in?
I recently helped with a conservation treatment on an artwork by Simon Sparrow, a self-taught, or “outsider” artist. I am interested in studying the processes of this artist more in depth, and more broadly, how the “outsider” artist phenomenon caught on in the 20th century and sparked a cutthroat resale market.
How are your classes this semester?
I am enjoying the informal research we are doing in Dr. Barnes’s class about various rumors, scandals, or unproven theories. It is a real hands-on approach, and is helping hone my research skills.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Keeping up with the reading is keeping me on my toes. I haven’t had this much homework for a few years, so I’m out of practice! I am also behind some of my classmates, because I haven’t taken any of the foundational “Methods” courses.
Navigating New Space and Exploring the Walls
Michelle Turner is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Art History and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies program. Michelle was awarded a Department of Art History Student Research Grant to support her Qualifying Paper research.
This January, right as the 2019 winter vortex hit, the University of St. Thomas provided me the opportunity to leave. Thanks to the Department of Art History Student Research Grant, I was able to travel to England and develop my Qualifying Paper abroad. My paper focuses on British artist Sonia Boyce and her ongoing relationship with wallpaper throughout the span of her career. Many scholars and critics either focus on the conceptual similarities across Boyce’s oeuvre or they silo her work into two camps: her drawings pre-1990 and her collaborative work post-1990. My paper aims to bridge Boyce’s art practice by also attending to the aesthetic.
I was first introduced to the work of Sonia Boyce by Dr. Heather Shirey in her spring 2018 seminar “Afropean: Africa and Europe.” Boyce was suggested to me by Dr. Shirey as a possible research subject. My paper began by exploring Boyce’s visual commentary on Britain’s race relations. Her work was intended to be one case study among a collection of others that highlighted the disparity between ideas of diversity and inclusion. Yet, as I began to survey the breadth of Boyce’s work, in particular, her collaborative and often performative pieces post-1990, I became fascinated by her new use of wallpaper. In her pre-1990 drawings, wallpaper was used as a regular backdrop behind her figures, but in her later work, Boyce took wallpaper off the canvas and gave it new dimensions, the ability to engulf and alter the space we inhabit.
Nervous that at any point I would step upon a source which had undoubtedly already written on this topic, I both voraciously surveyed whatever records and writings I could find and proceeded with caution. With less than ten days before our final class presentations, I emailed Dr. Shirey my intention to switch my paper’s focus. I was met with “you are in the trenches with the research, and you’ll be the best judge as to what is possible at this point in the research/semester.” I took that as a go.
Ultimately the topic was well received and turned into my Qualifying Paper. Over the summer, I reached out to Boyce directly and in the fall, I applied for the Department of Art History Student Research Grant. My time abroad allowed me the opportunity to see many of Boyce’s work in person, hold conversations with a number of art professionals who had worked directly with Boyce and/or her work, as well as meet and interview Sonia Boyce.
England was a RUSH but a wonderful one. My first day in the UK, I dropped my bags in London and travelled 2+ hours out of the city to visit the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. Here I viewed “Criminal Ornamentation,” an exhibition curated by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. Boyce’s 1986 drawing Lay back, keep quiet and think of what made Britain so great was a part of this show. Lay back, keep quiet and think of what made Britain so great was the work which first introduced me to Boyce, so it was moving to begin my travels by seeing this piece.
Over the next two days, I ebbed and flowed around and out of London. I had the chance to visit the Arts Council Collection where Curator, Beth Hughes generously pulled Boyce’s 2010 etching I Have Found a Song for me. On another day, UP Project’s Commissions Curator, Niamh Sullivan introduced me to Boyce’s current commission project, the Newham Trackside Wall. Due for completion in 2019, the Newham Trackside Wall will be the longest public artwork ever made in the UK, stretching over a mile long. Additional stops included the British Museum, The Lightbox gallery in Woking where Boyce’ work From Tarzan to Rambo: English Born ‘Native’ Considers her Relationship to the Constructed/Self Image and her Roots in Reconstruction was on view as part of an exhibition, and a detour to the Young Vik to see a one-man show by the actor who famously cried “You shall not pass!” to protect a band of hobbits.
Following this run, I took the weekend to explore Birmingham and Manchester. In Birmingham, one highlight was seeing the exhibition “Women Power Protest.” Boyce’s 1985 drawing Mr. Close Friend-of-the-Family Pays a Visit Whilst Everyone Else is Out was on display here. A second highlight was visiting EastSide Projects and meeting Director Gavin Wade. Mr. Wade was kind enough to tour me through what the space was like when Boyce held her 2017 Wallpaper / Performance sessions at the gallery. In Manchester, the main stop was – as should come as no surprise – the art gallery. What did come as a surprise, however, was seeing Boyce’s 2018 work Six Acts on view as part of the permanent collection. This was the first material wallpaper by Boyce I had seen in-person; better still, it was installed and on view in a public space.
Returning to London, there was a lot to take in from the weekend, but a lot left to see and do over my last two days. Visits were made to the John Soane Museum, the Tate Modern, the Whitechapel Gallery, the Black Cultural Archives, and the Victoria & Albert Museum – where I was lucky enough to view an assortment of wallpaper samples, by Boyce and others, thanks to Senior Curator of Prints, Gill Saunders. Another thanks is due to Curator Claire FitzGerald of the Government Art Collection who led me past security and guards to see a large screenprint of Boyce’s Devotional chart in the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices. Of course, the trip came full circle by having the chance to meet Sonia in person. We met at the Royal Academy and she treated me to English cake and tea, a welcomed refreshment for one too nervous to eat anything beforehand. There may not have been any icing on the cake, I can’t remember, but none was needed. My thanks to all who in their generosity made this trip more than I could have hoped or imagined.
Ann Arntson recently completed her first semester in the Museum Studies Certificate program at the University of St. Thomas in fall 2019.
Where did you go as an undergrad and what did you study?
I went to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and studied History. My emphasis was in Egyptian and Middle Eastern history.
Why did you want to continue your studies with the University St. Thomas?
I am currently enrolled in the Masters of Library and Information Science with an emphasis in Archives and Special Collections. A classmate told me about the Museums Studies program and I thought it would be an important complement to archives and libraries.
What advice would you give someone thinking of coming to St. Thomas for the Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies?
I would tell them that St. Thomas provides a supportive environment from both the Art History department and other students. I very much enjoy my time here because of this. Also, I would tell them to go to the department events!
What are you currently interested in?
- Psychology of collecting, especially how it applies to museums, archives, and other related fields.
- Egyptian history (ancient to modern)
- Adding to my book list
How were your classes last semester?
The semester was good but very busy. I very much enjoyed Museum Studies II: Collections, Curation, and Controversy. I was also taking Archives and Mmetadata courses at St. Kate’s.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Balancing coursework, student groups, networking, internships/jobs and personal life.
Marilyn Burnett is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Art History and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies program. This summer, Marilyn worked with a team of graduate students and Dr. Heather Shirey to research street art across several major metropolitan areas in the United States.
In the summer of 2018, I joined three other Art History graduate students and Dr. Heather Shirey to complete an independent study course investigating street art across the United States. We decided to do comparative research on street art by visiting some important hubs of street art in the United States, sometimes traveling together and sometimes separately. We started by investigating street art in our own city, St. Paul. We then visited Los Angeles together, and I ventured off to Denver on my own. The journey of learning about the art movement of graffiti, street art, and urban murals was a fascinating discovery of self-expression, placemaking, ambition, and profit.
Graffiti started in the 1970s and 1980s as a form of rebellion against capitalism and coincided with the establishment of a subculture of rebellious youth in the crumbling inner cities. The sheer repetition of a writer’s signature or tag proclaimed individual worth and recognition, and tagging evolved into a competition for recognition and fame based upon risk, location, and artistic talent. The exaggerated lettering is generally intended to be understood by an internal audience, and so tags may be seen as exclusive to the crews and writers of the street, as the casual observer usually cannot decipher them.
Next, let’s consider forms of street art that, like graffiti, are produced by illegal means, taking the form of images as an irreverent voice against capitalism and the establishment. This type of street art is inclusive because the sometimes political and subversive messages are intended for the casual passerby. Street art is contextual with necessary elements like location on the street and painting within the human scale to confer to the viewer the skill and risk of the painter and create a human connection. Its illegal nature allows for complete freedom of expression and also the potential for revision. The traditional rules of street art hold that other street artists add, respond or delete existing street art as part of a conversation balanced by a respect of established artists on the street. The risk of illegal art is part of the intrigue, and also becomes payment for the lack of external control regarding the subject matter or quality of the art.
Sanctioned murals, on the other hand, are generally commissioned, placed in the public realm, and therefore encounter control of content at several levels. The policies of the city, the property owner, the commissioning body and the funding body can all provide restrictions on content. There is a belief by ‘street art purists’ that sanctioned street art is the enemy of the spirit of street art. They claim painting for payment is unadventurous and a ‘selling out’ of the fundamental principles of street art. The reality is that Street Art festivals are wildly popular events across the world which foster paid urban murals labeled as street art. Urban developers capitalize on ‘creative districts’ and street art festivals which gentrify aging neighborhoods but also can raise property values and displace low-income families. Social media has provided a path to fame or invisibility in the glut of images online. Disdained by traditional street art, the internet is part of the future and provides opportunities for artist and individual interpretations. The lines of traditional street art are blurred and scholars and leaders in the street art world debate the next phase for the genre.
One mural located in St. Paul, Minnesota proved to be the perfect negotiation of a sanctioned mural that respects the local community and its sponsors, yet challenges the status quo and calls out the stereotypes and struggles of the Hmong American community. The Saint Paul Mural Project was curated by the Minnesota Museum of American Art and funded by a Knight Challenge grant in 2017, and I chose to focus on this more deeply for my research
Vanhoua Anthony Vue is an Australian artist who identifies with his Hmong culture. Vue was selected for this project by the MMAA and wanting to be inclusive, he initiated Hmong community discussions and incorporated local Hmong artists into the project. The mural on the Jackson Street parking structure, Flows of Interconnected Motifs, recalls traditional Hmong story cloths. Vue painted a colorful camouflage background upon which the local artists painted a personal motif representing the Hmong-American experience. The image is powerful as the camouflage veils the Hmong stories of misrepresentation and invisibility in plain sight.
Honeybees and Poppies is a motif by Xee Reiter. The work references underlying tensions between Laos as an opium producer and the opiate crisis in the United States. Laos has a long history as a place of violence and war and displaced many Hmong farmers. Reiter gives a cultural nod to their survivalist nature and ability to thrive in areas of diaspora.
The Jackalope is an illustration by Christina Vang. Her mythical creature is typical of oral Hmong folklore. The jackalope represents Hmong stereotypes of being both feared and a pest. She references the 2004 case where Chai Vang was convicted of shooting 6 people after they confronted him and hurled racial slurs for his hunting on private property. The murder of 6 people was tragedy mixed with racial tensions. An MPR story indicates cultural misunderstandings of private property, hunting seasons and that the Wisconsin hunting rules are not available in multiple languages.
Healer is a motif by Melissa Vang. The depiction of a woman with herbs and leaves in her hair is inspired by the Hmong women who have generationally passed down the knowledge of how to ease pain with plants and herbs. This motif honors Hmong cultural healing but is reminiscent of opium pain-killing properties. Possibly linking the commodification of this innate healing knowledge to companies who financially benefit from this ancient practice without reciprocation to the women who possess the knowledge.
Wood Frogs is a creation by Shoua Yang. Yang feels that wood frogs represent the Hmong people and their amazing ability to adapt. The wood frog is known for the adaptations which allow its body to actually freeze in hibernation. The frog might also be a metaphor for the suffering that the Hmong have survived. Frogs have a special meaning in Hmong spirituality for initiating a curse which brought suffering and restricting man’s access to the spirits and the Otherworld.
The collaboration required between the Hmong community, the MMAA and the Saint Paul community proved to be positive. As part of the community discussions, museum personnel were asked to bow out of some gatherings in order to create Hmong-only spaces, fostering an environment of trust and sharing of authority. Courtney Gerber, a curator at the MMAA, told me that this experience impacted how the museum “as a white-led organization, thinks about community-based partnerships” and better understands the requirements for healthy relationships from both sides. In response to artistic freedom, Vue stated that he felt no limitations to his artistic freedom from the MMAA or the Knight Foundation: “Although there is subversion and mistranslation inherent in the works, the collaborating artists and I have also been mindful of what is appropriate for such a project.”
The next chapter of street art is appearing in the form of sanctioned urban murals. They share the street with traditional street art and can share the power of their message through a call for documentation versus the alternative definition of wallpaper. The St Paul Mural project can serve as an example of community building, respect, giving voice to the struggles of a displaced people and for white-led institutions to hear them.