In Context - The official blog of the Department of Art History at UST - Page 5

In Context

Archive, Exhibitions, Research

The Voorsanger Architects Archive: A Repository, an Educational Resource, and a Test Case

On Tuesday, April 17, the University of St. Thomas Department of Art History hosted an event that was part celebration, part symposium, part demo, and part product-reveal party. The product being revealed, the subject of conversation, and cause for celebration, was the department’s collaboration with Voorsanger Architects PC of New York; the Voorsanger Architects Archive serves as an educational resource for the department and a model (and test case) for digital preservation moving forward.

From left: Bartholomew Voorsanger, FAIA, Dr. Victoria Young, Dr. Ann Whiteside, and Dr. Dell Upton

 

From left: Dr. Ann Whiteside, Dr. Victoria Young, Bartholomew Voorsanger, FAIA, and Dr. Dell Upton

Tuesday’s event, billed as A Conversation about Architectural Legacy, featured architect Bartholomew Voorsanger, FAIA, in conversation with noted architectural historian Dr. Dell Upton and St. Thomas’ own Dr. Victoria Young. Dr. Upton walked Voorsanger through some of the greatest hits of his firm’s designs (most notably the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, establishing why Voorsanger and his firm are worthy of archiving; Dr. Young focused on the archive itself, examining both its features and the process through which it was created, thanking Christine Dent and several graduate student assistants.

Also present was Dr. Ann Whiteside, librarian and assistant dean of Harvard’s graduate school of design. Whiteside, an expert in digital archives and their attendant issues, noted that the world of design faces a mounting problem, with over 40 years of digital design documents, many of them in proprietary file formats (in other words, formats that can only be read by the specialized software used by a particular firm), piling up and creating a nest of archival problems that simply didn’t exist when design was done on paper (problems such as: how do you make sure these file formats will still be readable in 30 years? What type of file-corruption risks exists with different types of digital storage? How do you protect digital archives from accidental loss or erasure?). Whiteside is involved with the Building for Tomorrow project, which seeks to bring people from different sides of the issue (archivists, designers, academics, IT experts) together to find solutions for archives and museums, believing that collaboration is necessary for success.

The Voorsanger Architects Archive homepage, VoorsangerArchive.org

Along those lines, Whiteside cited the Voorsanger Architects Archive as an example of the right kind of collaboration. With the St. Thomas team working directly with people from the Voorsanger firm, she noted, a representative sample of projects could be chosen to be archived, and the Voorsanger team could help to make sure that files that they sent for archiving were in an easily-read format.

This collaboration is important. If long-term storage and file compatibility are the big-headline problems with digital design archives, they are far from the only ones. In this situation, as in many others, a hidden problem of resource allocation can come to dominate. Voorsanger mentioned Tuesday night that his firm, being medium-sized, lacked the resources to create the kind of meaningful long-term archive of its own design process that a large firm like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill could maintain. The University of St. Thomas Department of Art History, able to provide expertise, time, and digital (and physical) storage space, was able to step in and fill a gap, in the process creating a model for ways in which smaller architectural firms and educational institutions can form partnerships to archive design materials. To this end, the process of creating the archive has been well-documented so that it can be shared with other institutions embarking on similar projects and partnerships, thus establishing an educational resource potentially as valuable as the Voorsanger Architects Archive itself.

The digital incarnation of the archive is accessible through a website, VoorsangerArchive.org, and can be navigated by browsing by project or a robust search function. Archival objects include scanned documents, digital images and design files, informational records on physical models in the collection, and specially-created short video clips, dubbed “fragmenta,” that provide brief overviews of archived Voorsanger projects. The usefulness of this archive to students of design, architecture, and architectural history is self-evident, allowing researchers a powerful glimpse behind the curtain at the iterative design process behind 25 Voorsanger projects, including the National World War II Museum, the Wildcat Ridge Residence, and a redesign of control towers for La Guardia Airport.

Wildcat Ridge Residence

One challenge with Tuesday evening’s event lay in how to give a digital archive an exciting, engaging presence in the physical world; to this end, Department of Art History Gallery and the lobby of the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center were filled with technology for the evening. A virtual reality rig let visitors “walk” through immersive renderings of the plans for the National World War II Museum. Students with iPads circulated through the post-event reception, allowing attendees to browse the archive on the spot. A video screen displayed fragmenta on a loop. And archival physical models and photographs were on display, driving home the wide array of information available in the archive.

View of Preserving the Present exhibition. Photo by Mike Ekern, University of St. Thomas Photographer.

 

National World War II Museum display, part of Preserving the Present exhibition. Photo by Mike Ekern, University of St. Thomas Photographer.

Aside from its value to scholars and utility as a model of public/private archival cooperation, the Voorsanger Architects Archive allows the Department of Art History to provide practical, real-world experience to students in the growing field of digital humanities. Digital archiving is an important concept outside of the academy and architecture; museums and libraries now also find themselves struggling to maintain, protect, and exploit larger and larger bodies of digital records and archives (and, increasingly, born-digital art objects). For a department that keeps a steady eye on the practical realities of the museum world, the ongoing learning opportunity involved in maintaining, expanding, and using this archive is invaluable.

April 24, 2018 by
Research, Research Travel, Senior Paper, Students, Undergraduate Student

Three American Cities Through Their Abandoned Railroads

Madie Ley is a senior art history major, with a minor in history, who received an Art History Department Undergraduate Research Grant to help make this project possible. Madie will present her senior research paper on Friday, May 4, 2018. 

The purpose of this research trip was to gain a site-specific perspective on three case studies that are part of my senior paper. My focus is on urban parks built on repurposed railroads—so-called “linear parks”—so I planned to visit the High Line in New York City, the Reading Viaduct in Philadelphia, and the 606 Trail in Chicago. As my paper also looks comparatively at the philosophy and practice of the first park designers in America, specifically that of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, it was also necessary to see two of his most popular parks: Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

I set out at each park with a series of questions to answer. How did the design of the park affect my experience on the land? How did other people respond to—or ignore—different design aspects of the park? At Central Park and Prospect Park, I kept in mind the original intentions and design of the park and compared them to how the parks were conserved today, and how Olmsted and his partners Calvert Vaux and H.W.S. Cleveland would react to the current condition of the parks, and the evolution of the surrounding urban landscape.

One of the most important findings of my research trip had to do with the intentionality of moving through each park and how physical movement affected the thoughts that arose while taking in the surrounding landscape.

Olmsted favored creating paths that meandered, turned corners and invited curiosity within a park visitor. What would be on the other side of this bend? His biggest desire with park design was to facilitate a momentary escape into wilderness that was accessible to a working-class urban resident. At Central Park, the sanctuary effect was evident. As a first-time visitor, and someone who was unfamiliar with the area, I abandoned any attempt at trying to keep track of my location within the park, which direction I wanted to go, or where I wanted to end up when I reached urban surroundings again. The curvilinear nature of each path, the diverging walkways and bridges, and the sheer size of Central Park was enough to distract me from any prior expectations of how this visit would go. This phenomenon only compounded when I reached the Ramble, a densely-forested section of the park where small, unpaved footpaths tangled further in on themselves. At times, I was taken by complete surprise with an unexpected rocky outcropping culminating in a point on a pond, or a small valley with twenty-odd birdhouses full of seed and feathered visitors.

Central Park: View of West border of the park with lake and Bow Bridge in foreground, seen from Ramble overlook.

Later that day on the High Line, I had a similar experience, though it was facilitated by vastly different design elements. The High Line is a park built on an old elevated freight line that was used to deliver goods to warehouses in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan. Since the twenty-first century it has been developed into an elevated park, officially completed in 2014. It is incredibly popular to tourists and residents with a love for postindustrial, urban, and green spaces.

High Line, facing south

High Line, facing north with the Standard Hotel in background

In terms of the original purpose of urban parks—to create a sanctuary from the density of the built environment—I was certainly enveloped in a mental ‘escape’ from navigating crowded streets and subway stations, suspended ten feet above the street, but Olmsted’s manufactured ‘wilderness’ was far from view. A few plantings of trees, prairie grasses, and shrubbery honored the original wildflowers that had been photographed along the abandoned railroad bed in the 1980s and 90s before this land was developed into the park it is today. A far cry from Central Park’s great boulders and ancient oaks, I was very much still in the city, with apartments, office buildings, and construction projects surrounding me on all sides, at times as close as an arm’s length away.

However, the act of walking a single path, given the only direction is forward, effectively took care of wayfinding for me so that all my mental energy was left to taking in the environment around me. Just like Olmsted’s winding and meandering paths at Central Park eliminated any choice to determine where I would go, the minimalism of a single linear path at the High Line also removed navigation from my mental experience, leaving more space for contemplation and observation of the vertical landscapes around me. I felt similar emotions of wonder and curiosity, but the subjects of my attention were apartment balconies with an assortment of plastic furniture and bicycles, or luxury hotel rooms where one might catch a glimpse of the people who could afford such amenities.

A Railroad Artifact, 30th Street, May 2000 (Joel Sternfeld)

In Philadelphia, I visited the first phase of development along the former Reading Railroad line that goes through the northern part of Center City. The Rail Park takes advantage of a postindustrial environment similar to the High Line, with massive steel structures rising above the railroad, and a variety of elevation within the cityscape: portions of the proposed three-mile park and pedestrian transportation corridor are elevated, at street level, and underground. Much like Joel Sternfeld’s photographs that drew developers’ attention to the High Line, the urban explorer population of Philadelphia have given the Reading tunnel its five minutes of fame on Instagram and photography blogs. The Rail Park is part of a larger High Line Network of parks that echo similar design concepts, ranging from finished projects to proposals in early planning stages, located in urban spaces across North America. “Phase 1” is expected to open in July 2018.

Reading Viaduct Tunnel below Pennsylvania Avenue

My third and final destination was the 606 Trail in Chicago, opened in 2015. Built on the old Bloomingdale railroad line in the Logan Park neighborhood of Northwest Chicago, the 2.7-mile, elevated trail is mostly dedicated to bike transportation, catering to the commuter population that lives outside the city. As opposed to the High Line’s stylized, design-focused path that weaves through trees and exposed rails, the 606 trail is a paved bike path with lane markings, featuring a softer path material on each side for walkers and joggers.

Chicago’s 606 trail near North Kedzie Avenue

—

When it became clear that the Industrial Revolution would quickly take hold in America and land would not be spared, early proponents of the necessity of the natural world feared the fate of urban landscapes, and scrambled to set aside space for parks. In the 1800s, growth moved horizontally across the East Coast and with the development of the railroad industry, further West until the country had been mapped and Native claims to territory had been exploited or ignored. In our current postindustrial state, urban American landscapes have grown vertically to account for the lack of greenspace on the ground. Forward-thinking landscape architects are transforming former industrial transportation corridors into veins of suspended forestry, where pedestrians escape cityscapes via elevation.

April 12, 2018 by
Graduate Qualifying Paper, Graduate Student, Research Travel

Researching Memory Politics in Memorial Museums: the National September 11th Site

Amanda Lesnikowski is a graduate student in Master of Arts in Art History program. Amanda received a Department of Art History Travel Grant to complete research for her Qualifying Paper, which she will present in May 2018. 

The National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York

Thanks to the University of St. Thomas’ art history department student travel grant, I was able to spend part of January at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York.  I am planning to graduate with my M.A. in art history this coming May. My qualifying paper will focus on the role of memory politics in two memorial museums: The National September 11th Memorial and Museum and the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, Poland. By looking at different aspects of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum, I will be able to better understand how its spaces have incorporated the many emotions and opinions that surround the 2001 terrorist attacks. In the end, I hope to discover how memorial museums that began as single monologues have become inclusive spaces with community-based dialogues. When a museum, such as the Museum of the Second World War, has a historical agenda, it is left to exhibit history with a particular point of view—one that the museum has chosen as being representative of whatever history it has put on display. The power this decision-making gives to a museum can sometimes lead to it having a conflicting relationship with its government. State voices wish to recall memories that will serve a national interest, but those memories do not always align with what the museum has chosen to display.

I applied for the grant with the intention of spending one day outside at Michael Arad’s memorial pools, Reflecting Absence, and a second day inside at the museum, designed by SNØHETTA and David Brody Bond. I wanted to use this travel opportunity as a chance to walk through the spaces firsthand, read wall labels, listen to tour guides, and observe visitors. While travel websites like Yelp! and TripAdvisor are useful, nothing compares to an in-person experience. When I went online to purchase my tickets, I was disappointed to see that they were not touring the outdoor memorial. I knew that the memorial was open to the public starting at 7:30 a.m., so I thought I would get my bearings outside using their mobile app before going into the museum. After exploring a bit on my own, I took my mobile ticket to the K-9 unit at the museum’s entrance before walking through a security set-up that reminded me a lot of an airport.

An example of merchandise available for purchase in the gift shop.

I have read a lot about the commodification of tragedies so I made a beeline to the gift shop.  I was dying to know if there were really coffee mugs commemorating the September 11th terrorist attacks. I walked around the store snapping photos of all of the things that made me shake my head. All of the walking and snapping did not fill the time until my 11:30 a.m. tour, so I went to the tour desk to see if I could sneak on the next tour and the reissued me a new ticket.

The memorial museum is built underneath where the World Trade Center’s north and south towers once stood. You begin the experience on the ground level where security is, and the first sub-level is where you find the gift shop, membership desk, and tour desk. According to our tour guide, the memorial museum has a dual mission: to memorialize those who were killed and to educate on the events of the day and days that followed. He also told us that the tour would have four themes: violence, heroism, solidarity, and remembrance.

These panels are where we began our tour.

Our group began to walk down a shallow ramp where a large map of the United States showed where the planes originated and where they ended. Large, vertical panels showed an outline of the United States and played images of people reacting to the towers. Overhead audio played of people sharing where they were when it all happened. Our tour guide met us at the end of this area and told us that our group was about to explore Foundation Hall followed by Memorial Hall. The tour would not include the in memoriam or historical exhibitions. I was really surprised by this! None of my previous research acknowledged that the tour was only of large artifacts and the foundation walls.

Overlooking Foundation Hall, you can see only a fraction of the exhibition space.

The tour began overlooking Foundation Hall where the iconic last column was standing. We continued down a ramp which led us to the survivors’ stairs. This important set of stairs is what saved so many people that Tuesday morning. We broke from talking about Foundation Hall to learn about Memorial Hall. This is where the unidentified remains are housed. Behind a large blue wall is the office of the city’s medical examiner. Within that private space is also a reflection room for families of victims. Next, we turned our focus back to Foundation Hall. Our tour guide took us to a twenty foot antenna fragment, an elevator motor, Ladder Co. 3’s fire truck, and a piece of steel from the north tower that had an outline from the plane’s impact. Our tour guide left us at the end of our hour at the base of the last column. I asked why the tour did not include the in memoriam or historical exhibitions and our guide said that given the content the decision to explore these two exhibitions needed to be a personal one.

The survivors’ stairs were the first artifacts to come to the museum.

Underneath the north tower is both a temporary exhibition space and the historical exhibition. These areas, along with the in memoriam, did not allow for photography. The historical exhibition is divided into three sections: the day of, pre-September 11th, and the days that followed. These three areas were very emotional, so much so that I actually appreciated the ban on photography. The south tower sat atop the in memoriam exhibition. A large square room was full of photographs of the deceased. Wrapping around the room in alphabetical order, the photos where accompanied by a recording of the reading of their names. In the center of the space was a small room with benches where you could sit to listen and read the stories being played out loud. It took me an hour to move through, but I do not regret the time I spent inside.

 

This blue wall is an iconic representation of the memorial museum.

This experience was incredibly important to my qualifying paper research. I want to thank the University of St. Thomas’ art history department for their generosity and support!

The last column is another popular image from both Ground Zero and the memorial museum.

April 10, 2018 by
Research, Research Travel, Senior Paper, Undergraduate Student

Researching Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, Italy

Annie Vitale in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. Annie will present her senior research paper on Friday, May 4, 2018. 

Annie Vitale is an undergraduate Art History major and is currently working on her senior paper. She was awarded the Art History Department Undergraduate Research Grant to help make travel for this project possible.

This March I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Venice, Italy after receiving grants from both the University of St. Thomas Department of Art History and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. The purpose of my trip was to research and experience first hand the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, information which will sustain my senior research paper and will also be used to supplement the research used for my Summa Exam, which will allow me to graduate summa cum laude.

The exterior of Santa Maria della Salute

The focus of my senior thesis is the investigation of Santa Maria della Salute, a Baroque-style plague church designed by Baldassare Longhena, as not only a church but as a memorial to the Virgin Mary. Consecrated in 1632 in response to a plague epidemic that attacked Venice in 1630, the Venetians dedicated Salute to the Virgin Mary who they believed delivered their city from the plague. In my research I consider the church, its site, plan, interior and exterior elements, and function both contemporarily and historically, within the framework of memorial to the Virgin.

I had extensively researched Salute prior to my travel, however I believe a site cannot be completely understood without experiencing it in real life. The grants I received allowed me fully immerse myself in the architecture and ambiance of Salute.

The facade of Il Redentore

While in Venice I spent a great deal of time on site at Salute, taking extensive notes and countless photos (luckily Salute allows photography!) as well as sketching architectural elements of the space and its surroundings. Although I had visited Salute once before in 2012, I was able to experience it in a whole new light after researching it for the past several months. As I approached Salute I stood in awe of the theatrical facade covered in marble statues of Mary and the saints. Once I entered I continued to be amazed by the six chapels surrounding the rotunda, each housing a stunning altar decorated with a painting of scenes from the life of the Virgin. But what captivated me the most was the dramatic altarpiece, a sculpture of Mary dispelling the plague, which holds the Panagia Messopanditissa, a Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child. I was overwhelmed by all of the Marian symbolism, Longhena even designed Salute in the form of a rotunda to symbolize Mary’s womb. Observing all of these elements first hand allowed me to better comprehend how they connect both visually and symbolically to strengthen the presence of the Virgin Mary in the space.

The facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute

I was able to attend a Sunday morning mass at Salute, as well as an evening organ concert. It was helpful to attend these events as they provided me with the opportunity to observe the how Longhena’s design fits the function of the space. I also visited the church’s Sacristy Museum which is home to gorgeous paintings and frescoes, some by Venetian painters Titian and Tintoretto (unfortunately the museum prohibits photography).

Visiting Venice allowed me to position Salute within the broader context of the city as I analyzed several other churches and important architectural works while I was there. I visited Il Redentore, a plague church dedicated to Christ the Redeemer, situated across the canal from Salute. I also visited Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari which houses some of the most impressive paintings sculptural works I have ever seen. It was helpful for me to visit these churches, among many others, as I compared them to Salute in an effort to determine exactly what aspects of Salute allow the church to function as a memorial.

The interior rotunda of Salute

I was able to take a boat ride up the Grand Canal where I saw the impressive facades of Ca’ Pesaro and Ca’ Rezzonico, two Venetian palaces designed by Longhena. It was really neat to see these facades in person and compare them to Longhena’s facade design of Salute.

The sanctuary of Salute with the high altar of Mary dispelling the Plague

 

I was also able to spend a few days in Florence, experiencing the art, architecture, and culture there as well (not to mention some of the best pasta and pizza I have ever had). There I visited several churches including Santa Maria del Fiore, Orsanmichele, San Minito al Monte and Santa Maria Novella. It was interesting to observe how churches other than Salute portray the Virgin Mary and encourage devotion to her. I was particularly fascinated by Orsanmichele, which was originally built as a grain market and later converted into a church. Orsanmichele houses Bernardo Daddi’s Madonna and Child which is said to have miraculous powers, healing many during the outbreaks of the plague.

The tomb of Canova inside of Santa Maria Gloriosa

My trip to Italy was nothing less than remarkable and, in a way, makes me feel like I have come full circle, back to the place the peaked my interest in art history nearly seven years ago. In 2012 as a sophomore in high school I traveled to Venice on a school trip and Salute was the first church I visited. I distinctly remember being captivated by the theatrical facade and stunning interior. It was after this trip to Italy that I became passionately interested in pursuing art history. Returning to Salute now, as I am writing my senior paper, not only provided me with incredible material to incorporate into my research, but also reminded me why I pursued a major in art history in the first place. I am confident that my time spent in Venice will contribute greatly to the success of my projects and I am beyond grateful for the generosity from the University of St. Thomas Department of Art History and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for making it a reality.

April 4, 2018 by
Faculty, Research

THE ART HISTORY PROFESSOR IS IN: Dr. William Barnes

Get to know our faculty through this ongoing series. This month, we interviewed Dr. William Barnes, Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History.

What area of art history/architectural history did you focus on in graduate school? And where did you go?

I took an earned M.A. at Tulane University in New Orleans. While the M.A. at Tulane is general in focus, I wrote my Master’s thesis on the art of the Aztecs. I stayed at Tulane for my Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Art History and Archaeology. I took my exams in three areas: Pre-Columbian art history, Colonial Latin American art history, and World Archaeology. My Ph.D. dissertation focused on the royal art of the Aztecs.

And what area do you focus on now? Give one factoid everyone should know about that area?

I research and publish on the arts of ancient Mesoamerica, particularly the art and visual rhetoric of the Aztecs.

Factoid: In Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs had a system of compulsory education whereby youths learned reading, writing, and sacred lore.

Best advice you have ever received? 

Academically? My advisor would regularly remind us that all it takes is one wild supposition to undermine a dozen solid arguments. As for life advice — one should never feel guilty about taking a nap.

If you weren’t a professor, what would you do and why?

If I wasn’t a professor I’d likely be a museum preparator or exhibit designer — failing that, I would have likely gone into CIS.

March 25, 2018 by
Alumni

Life After Graduate School: Alex Kermes

Get to know Master’s Program alumni in our new series Life After Graduate School. In this month’s feature, meet Alex Kermes, a Master’s program alum and Exhibitions Coordinator at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Why St. Thomas?

St. Thomas has a great reputation and I had some friends who attended and vouched for the school.

What was your favorite moment while a student at St. Thomas?

It’s hard to pick out a single moment that was my favorite since I experienced so many new and exciting topics. Each was a revelatory moment on its own. For instance, I spent more time being intimidated by Chinese art than interested in studying it. But to fulfill the non-Euro/American art requirement I took one of Dr. Kindall’s seminars, which focused on the theme of travel throughout the history of the Chinese artistic imagination. It  provided a unique point for me to access and learn in a personal way about a topic I knew nothing about.

What are you up to these days? How did you get to where you are?

Today I work for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, managing and developing exhibitions. The graduate art history program helped me develop a framework for understanding art exhibitions and how to reach art audiences in a variety of ways. My assistantships at St. Thomas gave me some hands-on experience implementing exhibitions. After graduate school I saw this type of project management first-hand at a small exhibition design company in Minneapolis.

How has the time you spent in our graduate program influenced your career and life?

When I started the graduate program, I was extremely unsure of my abilities and preparedness for that level of study. The more courses I took, the more I grew and gained a steady academic footing. Along the way as I tackled more challenging projects, I found encouragement and support from the faculty and fellow students around me. This underscored the importance of taking responsible risks as well as remaining constantly open to undertaking new, sometimes daunting opportunities.

Advice for new and current graduate students?

You’ve really got to keep an eye out for unique opportunities. Especially as a graduate student make sure to take even the most unconventional opportunities seriously. I always felt that my skillset didn’t line up with what anyone was looking for, but I was given a lot of chances by making myself available and expressing my interest in learning new things. As a result I learned how to be open to growth, in ways I never expected from the start of my graduate career.

 

March 21, 2018 by
Graduate Student

Meet Our Graduate Students: Theresa Nelson

Photo by: Josh Feist, J. Feist Photography

Theresa Nelson is currently in her second semester in the M.A. Art History and Museum Studies Certificate program. She was enrolled in Methodology and Approaches of Art History and Museum Studies in the fall. For the spring semester, she is enrolled in Dr. Barnes’ seminar ARHS515: Art of Spain and Her Colonies and Dr. Shirey’s seminar ARHS535: Seeing Otherness: Afropean Intersections.

Where did you go as an undergraduate and what did you study?

 I went to the College of Saint Benedict where I majored in English and minored in Art History.

What drew you to the University St. Thomas?

What drew me to St. Thomas were the people. I met Dr. Victoria Young, Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History, and we immediately bonded over St. John’s University—St. Ben’s brother school—and she was welcoming and open to talk about the program with me. She also put me in contact with Dr. Heather Shirey, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, another helpful source to talk to about the program. I quickly came to the conclusion that I really like these people and would like going here.

What advice would you give someone thinking of coming to the St. Thomas M.A. in Art History and Museum Studies Certificate program?

Talk to people, whether it’s the faculty or students. This was the reason that I chose St. Thomas.

What are you currently interested in?

That is a hard question. When I first started in Art History, I was set on studying Impressionism. Then it moved to Modern and Contemporary art. Currently, I am unsure, so I am eager to take the variety of courses to find something that clicks and that stands out. However, as a broad category I have always been interested in Surrealism and have become more interested in feminist performance art. In addition, architectural history has become more of a minor interest. I don’t know very much about it, but I’m interested in delving more into it.

How are have your classes been?

Good. They are the perfect classes to start the program. I had taken other theory classes before, both English and Art History, so it’s a lot of review, which was a nice way to ease in, but also some new things building on information that’ll be useful going forward. Museum Studies is very discussion based, which I like. Talking about things is a good way to dive in to ideas of Museum Studies instead of something that is more research based. I think hearing my peers’ ideas when they come from such a variety of backgrounds allows you to see Museum Studies through an array of perspectives.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Does procrastinating count? I have always been a chronic procrastinator. The workload is manageable, classroom discussion comes naturally, but motivating myself is sometimes hard. I’m glad that I am working alongside taking classes, but sometimes the call of Netflix is strong when there are so many things going on! 

 

March 21, 2018 by
Faculty, Research

THE ART HISTORY PROFESSOR IS IN: Dr. Elizabeth Kindall

Get to know our faculty through this ongoing series. This month, we interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Kindall, Associate Professor in the Department of Art History.

What area of art history/architectural history did focus on in graduate school? And where did you go?

Chinese Painting, University of Kansas

And what area do you focus on now?

Traditional Chinese paintings of the landscapes of scenic sites, famous mountains, pilgrimage destinations, and journeys through them.

It is a great excuse to travel to China and trek through its mystical mountains!

Best advice you have ever received?

Just keep showing up.

If you weren’t a professor, what would you do and why?

I had my sights set on working in the foreign service. Yet another excuse to travel to Asia!

 

February 14, 2018 by
Graduate Student

Meet Our Graduate Students: Jessy Saffell

Jessy Saffell is currently in her second semester in the M.A. Art History/Museum Studies Certificate program. Last fall, Jessy was enrolled in one of the graduate program foundational courses, ARHS500: Methods and Approaches to Art History. Currently, she is enrolled in two seminars this spring: ARHS515: Asmat Museum and Beyond: Collections, Colonialism and Controversy – Exhibiting Non-Western Art and ARHS535: Seeing Otherness: Afropean Intersections.

Where did you go as an undergrad and what did you study?

I went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, right near Uptown. I graduated with my BFA in Illustration.

What drew you to the University St. Thomas?

My motivation came from the Museum Studies Certificate, as I want to curate professionally.  The University of St. Thomas is the only university that has the curating component integrated in their M.A. Art History in the surrounding area. In addition, after talking with Dr. Shirey (Director of the Art History Graduate Program) and Dr. Yahr (Assistant Professor and Director, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies) I definitely felt welcomed and comfortable here, which made it clear that, yes, this is where I want to be.

What advice would you give someone thinking of coming to UST Graduate Art History/Museum Studies Certificate program?

First thing, talk to the faculty. That was the big contributing factor for me, as they were welcoming and easy to talk to. Secondly, if you can, come and see the campus. It’s good to get the feel of what you will potentially be spending money on, in addition to where you will be spending a good amount of time.

What are you currently interested in?

I have always been a huge fan of Renaissance art. That is definitely where my passion is in the field of Art History. I specifically am interested in religious Renaissance art and looking at the history that influenced those religious pieces. This peaks my curiosity.

However, I am interested in Vincent Van Gogh as well. There are distinctive turns in his life, which parallel mine, in addition to the fact that my favorite painting (Starry Night) of his was painted exactly 100 years before I was born. There are just some unique parallels between our timelines.

 

What has been your biggest challenge?

Getting back into the swing of school after being out of it for five years. In addition, getting the confidence back and knowing that I’m not going to know all the right answers right away. In relation to this, it’s okay to struggle and ask for help. So in a nutshell, getting back into the school routine, habit and mindset.

January 30, 2018 by
Alumni

Life After Graduate School: Poppy Di Candeloro

Poppy Di Candeloro

Meet Master’s Program alumni in our series Life After Graduate School. In this month’s feature, get to know Poppy Di Candeloro, a graduate from our M.A. in Art History program, and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Why St. Thomas?

I chose St. Thomas for three reasons:

  1. I thrive in smaller university settings with smaller class sizes.
  2. I lived in Eau Claire, WI so it was important to find a relatively close university with an excellent M.A. program.
  3. My friend Amy suggested I apply to St. Thomas and so I did.

While these decisions sound rather frivolous and less academic, I could not have asked for a better Art History Department than the one at St. Thomas. The professors are all top scholars in their field, they are easy to talk to and learn from, opportunity is abundant, the sense of belonging to a place is undeniable, and the students become more than just classmates. They become friends and colleagues.

What was your favorite moment while a student at St. Thomas?

I have lots of favorite moments at St. Thomas. Tracking down missing artwork, going on field trips, being the graduate representative, working with Christy, Shelly, Marria, and the other graduate assistants, co-hosting two graduate student research symposia, and attending the receptions after every event. But perhaps the most memorable of all of my favorite events was the night that I presented M.A. thesis research. Not because I was happy to be getting that out of the way (although true—whew!), but because the people that I had spent my M.A. journey with were all in one room at the same time. I could see each of the professors who had encouraged me to be my best and the students who had become friends and occasional roommates: Carin, Lauren, Theresa, and Marria—THANK YOU! That was definitely one of my favorite moments at St. Thomas. More precise though, every moment at St. Thomas was a favorite moment.

Freelance writer Anne Kniggendorf, left, explores the CGSC art and gift collection with reps from the Todd Weiner Gallery Aug. 15. From left, Kniggendorf, Meghan Dohogne, Poppy Di Candeloro, and Todd Weiner. (Photograph Courtesy of Reed Hoffman). *This photograph from the article entitled “At an Army Base in Kansas, There’s a Secret Collection of Incredible Finds” published in Smithsonian Magazine on September 14, 2017.

What are you up to these days? How did you get to where you are?

These days, I am writing my dissertation on Nuclear Aesthetics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I also teach Art History 110 online, Anchor 399 online and I serve as undergraduate advisor to art history and studio art students at UMKC.

In addition to my roles at UMKC, I have been working on a collaborative project with the Todd Weiner Gallery and the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth as an independent curator and researcher. The ultimate goal of this project is to archive, catalog, and make the collection available to the public on a searchable database.

I got to where I am today by accepting opportunities as they present themselves to me and through the support of my husband, my dog, my family, and my friends.

How has the time you spent in our graduate program influenced your career and life?

Where shall I begin? Throughout my academic career I have attempted to stay consistent with building a skillset that would be as complete as possible in terms of knowledge and hands-on experience. It could be better research skills, time management, or learning a new standard of archiving. I enjoy the academic side of art history, so researching, writing, and archiving, but I also enjoy the creative side of designing and curating exhibitions—telling stories through visual art. While at St. Thomas, I was fortunate enough to have assistantships throughout my entire education. I learned to curate, design, and exhibit art, while simultaneously learning to catalog and archive art collections. My gratitude to Shelly and Christy. What I do today—advise, teach, and archive and curate art collections—was refined while I worked on my M.A. at St. Thomas. I can remember sitting in the basement of the Art History house as I entered descriptions of art, thinking “I could do this for a career.” And I am!

Poppy Di Candeloro, an independent curator and researcher with the Todd Weiner Gallery, discusses one of the items on display. (Photograph courtesy of Lt. Col. Mark H. Wiggins, U.S. Army, Ret. Communications Consultant: US Army Command and General Staff College Foundation). *This image can be found on our website.

Advice for new and current graduate students?

Three things:

  1. Say yes to opportunities. Even if they seem way outside of your skillset or range of interest. The more skills you have, the more valuable you are to those around you.
  2. Keep in contact with the people you meet in school, at events, or even on the airplane. They can be important! It is so easy to lose touch, but the people you meet may be the ones who get you the position you want at that museum, or might help get you into that PhD program.
  3. Have a sense of humor and laugh. A lot. A sense of humor is very helpful. Best wishes!
January 24, 2018 by