Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Friends of Art graduate awards!
Dominique (Nikki) DeLuca: Best Overall Performance by a PhD Student
Nikki, who completed her MA in the department as well, is working on her dissertation under the guidance of Prof. Elina Gertsman. Nikki’s nominator stressed her strong work ethic and her consistent academic excellence, writing: “It has been a true pleasure to have Nikki as a student, as a teaching assistant, and as a research assistant for all these years. From one semester to another, I came to rely on her to raise thought-provoking questions, draw startling comparisons, and engage with the material with real verve. It was clear that she read the material carefully, thought about it deeply, and researched her objects avidly.” Nikki is slated to defend her dissertation in the fall!
Samantha Truman: Best Paper by a PhD Student, for “(Re)Constructing History: The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Newport Desk and Bookcase.” Written for ARTH 495, Methodologies of Art History, the paper was guided by Prof. Henry Adams. This is Sam’s first year in our program; the achievement is all the more remarkable because American art is not her field of specialization.
Reed O’Mara: Best Paper by an MA Student, for “Politics, Courtliness, and the Polysemy of the Apple in Strasbourg’s South Portal.” This paper, written for the graduate seminar on medieval sculpture, was presented at the Art Talk series as well as at the 2018 SECAC conference held in Birmingham, Alabama.
These awards will be formally presented at the ceremony held by the School of Graduate Studies on May 1. Join us there to cheer Nikki, Sam, and Reed on!
