The Department of Art History and Art offers opportunities to study art history, to participate in a broad range of studio offerings and to engage in pre-professional museum training. The Bachelor of Arts degree is granted in art history and in pre-architecture. In addition, the department offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts in art history, in art history and museum studies; and the Doctor of Philosophy in art history.
All art programs are considerably enhanced by close cooperation with and access to the facilities of cultural institutions located in University Circle, in particular The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Institute of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.
The Cleveland Museum of Art/CWRU Art History Program has been in existence since 1967. The museum’s curators serve as adjunct faculty, and graduate research projects under their direction often result in exhibitions and publications. The museum Studies course and internships provide experience in curatorial practices, connoisseurship, conservation, design, and museum education, and the program has a history of producing leaders in the museum field. Graduate students are exposed to both traditional and newer theoretically based art historical approaches in classes taught by faculty renowned for their expertise in a diversity of fields.
News
Tracing Jewish Histories wins the MAA grant for Innovation in Community Building
Congratulations to our Mellon Fellow Reed O'Mara who, with her co-convenor Laura Feigen (the Courtauld), received the Medieval Academy of America's Graduate Student Committee Grant for Innovation in Community Building & Professionalization! The grant will further support this international symposium that brings together fabulous speakers from all over the...
Join us for the Provost’s Forum for Breaking Boundaries, where Professor Elina Gertsman and Maggie Popkin will present their ground-breaking research into mixed-reality modeling and their collaborative work with institutions across campus! More information on the event here.
Please join the department in congratulating MA candidate Madalyn Fox on her recent publication in CAN Journal! The article discusses the riveting work of sculptor Hannah Bates, whose work is now on view at the Sculpture Center. https://canjournal.org/reviving-the-rust-belt-hannah-batess-aggregate-at-the-sculpture-center/
Congratulations to Nikki DeLuca on the Publication of her First Book!
We are utterly delighted to announce that our very own alumna Dr. Nikki DeLuca just published her first book, Shades of Meaning: Shadows in Medieval Manuscript Illumination. Through the lens of fifteenth-century manuscript painting, the book investigates visual, metaphorical, and supernatural shadows in art to discover what they meant to the medieval viewer. Click here to go to the table of contents, acknowledgments, and other preliminary matter — and look out for copies at the KSL and the Ingalls!
Vivian Lewis presents at Vagantes
Congratulations to Vivian Lewis, our very own graduate and now an MA student in library science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who presented a version of her BA capstone, “Stronger Than Lions: Meaning-Making in a Medieval Jewish Aquamanile,” at the 24th Annual Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies, co-hosted this year by UNC and Duke! This was a full-circle event for Vivian, who chaired a session as an undergraduate when CWRU hosted Vagantes just a few years ago. Vivian’s paper examined the Walters aquamanile, a rare 13th-century bronze lion-shaped vessel inscribed with a Hebrew prayer, to uncover a nuanced narrative of Jewish identity, resilience, and cultural adaptation in medieval Europe. One of the conference attendees, a fellow of the Medieval Academy, wrote to Prof. Gertsman about Vivian’s wonderful “presentation and contextualization of this amazing piece,” and added that “the depth of knowledge apparent in her answers to questions was truly impressive.” Well done, Vivian!
April 2: Julius Fund Lecture in Byzantine Art
Please join us for the annual Julius Fund Lecture in Byzantine Art presented this year by Pau Stephenson of Towson University! Entitled “Devastating Beauty: Some Reflections on Two Roman Things in the Cleveland Museum of Art,” the talk will take place at the Eldred Auditorium on CWRU's campus on...
Congratulations to Prof. Erin Benay and Prof. Elina Gertsman who were both nominated for the 2024-2025 Jackson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring! The Jackson Award celebrates faculty and staff who have guided a student in their academic and career paths; fostered the student's long-term personal development; challenged the...
Diekhoff Nominations Announced
Congratulations to Prof. Elina Gertsman and Prof. Maggie Popkin who were both nominated for the 2024-2025 John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring/Teaching! The award, created in 1978, recognizes exceptional contributions to graduate student education at CWRU through exemplary advising, teaching, and mentoring. Up to four winners...