A new UA student group, Art Forward, has organized to “create a more inclusive and artistically empowered community for students at UA, members of the Tuscaloosa community, and people everywhere.” The founder and new president, sophomore Ivy Borden, said that the members of the group plan to combine art and activism “to empower individuals and
Pandemic Forces Rethinking Dreams, Rerouting Plans
The summer of 2019 found rising senior Anna Ingram chasing her dream of studying art history by applying to programs for graduate study. Ingram developed a love of Renaissance art during her undergraduate years as an art history major at UA and by her final year, knew she wanted to continue those studies post-graduation. “I
Art Historian Awarded Newberry Fellowship for Research
Dr. Wendy Castenell, assistant professor of African American art, has been awarded a Short-Term Fellowship by the Newberry Library in Chicago. The fellowship is sponsored by the Morrison Shearer Foundation to support Dr. Castenell’s research on the Chicago photographer Helen Balfour Morrison (1901-1984). Castenell will spend six weeks, during the summer of 2021, at the
Art Historians Awarded First Kress Foundation Grant for UA
Associate professor of art history Dr. Tanja Jones and assistant professor of art history Dr. Doris Sung were awarded a Digital Art History Grant by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the first awarded at UA. The award, for the 2020-2022 academic years, will support development of the on-line digital project Global Makers: Women Artists in
Art Historian Publishes on Visualizing Queer Kinship
Dr. Lucy Curzon, associate professor of art history, published an article on contemporary photography and queer kinship, titled “MaPa Del: Visualizing Queer Kinship,” in the 2020 issue of the journal, Adoption & Culture (Vol. 8, No. 1, 2020), published by Ohio State University Press. Curzon was also guest editor for the issue (titled Visual Adoptions),
UA Art Historian Awarded Top Fellowship
Dr. Rachel Stephens, associate professor of American art at UA, has been appointed an Ailsa Mellon Bruce Visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The two-month, highly competitive fellowship is one of the top awards in the field of
UA Art Historian Reveals Afro-Creole Leadership Through Art Patronage
Assistant Professor of African American art, Dr. Wendy Castenell, recently published “The Architects of Reconstruction: Alcès Family Portraits as Emblems of Afro-Creole Leadership.” She tells the story of the artistic production and patronage among “a class of assertive and vocal Afro-Creole leaders” in New Orleans who became political activists in the city after its fall
Art History Student Wins Honors, Defends Thesis on Zoom
In the thick of the quarantine, grad student Faith Barringer defended her master of arts thesis in art history on Zoom. Barringer’s faculty committee, made up of UA professors of art history Drs. Tanja Jones (chair), Lucy Curzon, Rachel Stephens, Doris Sung and UAB art historian Dr. Heather McPherson, interrogated her about her thesis research
Art Historian Presents Grant-Winning VR Project
In May, Dr. Jennifer Feltman presented her project, “Experiencing Gothic: A VR Cathedral for Middle Schoolers,” at the 2020-21 Whiting Foundation Fellows Convening Meeting in New York City via Zoom. Feltman was awarded a 2020-21 Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Seed Grant to partner with teachers and digital media experts to build a virtual reality experience