In October, 2008, the 6th Annual American University-George Washington University (AU/GW) Graduate Student Symposium in the History of Art was held in the Katzen Arts Center. Four AU graduate students presented their research. Gwen Van Ostern spoke on Kendall Geers: Politics, Ideology, and the Use of Violence; Ellie Pinzarrone (pictured above with Mary Garrard and Norma Broude) presented The Re-Creation of Memory as Practice of Resistance: Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, and Carrie Mae Weems; Helen MacDiarmid discussed May Stevens' Big Daddy Series: Feminist Art and American Social Realism; and Gretchen Martin presented Isabel Bishop's Women: Public Versus Private Personas.
In the spring, Angel Reed, Lucretia Young, and Corey Cripe presented their research at the annual Robyn Rafferty Mathias Student Research Conference held at AU. And Ellie Pinzarrone was chosen to present her work at the Middle Atlantic Symposium in the History of Art, held at the National Gallery of Art. This prestigious event is sponsored each year by The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art and the University of Maryland. Ellie's paper on the work of Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, and Carrie Mae Weems, was thought-provoking and well-received by the scholarly audience.
An Evening of Scholarship
Also in the spring, the art history program held its annual celebration of scholarship. The third annual Distinguished Scholar Lecture in Art History was given by Dr. Carol C. Mattusch, who is the Mathy Professor of Art History at George Mason University. As a visiting curator at the National Gallery of Art, Dr. Mattusch recently developed the remarkable exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples. Dr. Mattusch spoke on Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and the Grand Tour. The evening's program also included the presentation of the Robert and Susan Pence Undergraduate Art History Award. Bestowed each year upon an exemplary senior in the art history program, the Pence Award was presented to outstanding senior Mallory Stock.
The Carol B. Ravenal Travel Award
In April, the art history faculty announced the winners of the 2009 Carol B. Ravenal Travel Award competition. The award, made possible through the generous support of former Art Department professor Carol Ravenal, is bestowed alternately upon art history MA and studio art MFA students. This year is the first year the Ravenal Award was bestowed upon an art history student. The award provides funds for summer travel for educational or research purposes for returning graduate students. This year's award was divided between two students, Angel Reed and Corey Cripe, both of whom provided excellent proposals for travel to Italy for their thesis projects in Renaissance art. Reed composed an account of her experience abroad.
