CTPhD students present internship work at colloquia

Several Curatorial Track Ph.D. (CTPhD) students presented internship work at various colloquia this month. A required component of the program, the students interned at distinguished art museums over two semesters. Each student gained extensive knowledge in their specialty and networked with museum curators during their internships.

Emelie Gevalt interned at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). In summer 2018, Gevalt worked with Alexandra Kirtley, Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. While at the PMA, she researched and wrote biographies for artisans such as free black cabinetmaker Thomas Gross, as well as Benjamin Randolph, whose work may have involved the labor of enslaved craftsmen.

From January to August 2019, Gevalt served as a Curatorial Research Associate at the MFA, Boston under Nonie Gadsden, Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture. Astounded by a study estimating that only 13 percent of artists represented in national museums are women, she concentrated on the representation of female artists at the museum and took part in organizing Women Take the Floor, an exhibition highlighting overlooked and underrepresented female artists.

Meghan Angelos interned at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) in summer 2018 and the Princeton University Art M​useum in summer 2019. At both museums, she assisted with the upcoming exhibition LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography and wrote an essay for the exhibition catalogue. While at the MFA, she also prepared objects for study room appointments, attended meetings and assisted with other photography exhibitions. She became well acquainted with the museum's collection and learned about the broad workings of a museum.

At Princeton, Angelos continued to work on the LIFE exhibition, primarily by visiting collections for archival research. In addition to preparing for the exhibition, she learned about the plans for the museum's new building. Angelos also attended luncheons with staff, such as Director James Steward, to learn about various roles and departments within the museum.

Tiarna Doherty interned at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) in summer 2018 and Hispanic Society of America in summer 2019. At the MFA, she researched and developed annotated bibliographies for Dutch and Flemish paintings among the 113 artworks recently acquired by the museum. She also gained experience in label writing for the MFA's collection of Italian paintings.

As a Research Assistant to Dr. Marcus Burke at the Hispanic Society of America, Doherty compiled annotated bibliographies for the early modern Spanish drawings in the museum's collection, with a focus on works from the 17th century. Her research included literature searches, studying photo archives at the National Gallery of Art in Washington as well as original works of art in collections in New York and Washington, D.C.