University of Delaware Department of Art History

18/06/2025

🌾 Graduate students enrolled in Jessica Horton’s curatorial seminar, ARTH602: Woven Vessels, Pomo Futures, stuck their hands in the mud during a unique 2025 spring break field study in northern California.

Led by members of the Pomo Weavers Society (PWS), the students collected various roots, branches and stems, and tried to weave cordage from dogbane throughout Pomo homelands.

The group studied family basket collections, listened to weavers’ stories, and practiced relational and collaborative methods for curating with Indigenous communities in preparation for an exhibition of historical and contemporary Pomo baskets that will open in Mechanical Hall Gallery at University of Delaware in spring 2027.

✅ Read more about the students' experience: https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/cas/news-events/news/2025/april/harvesting-knowledge/

📷 Pictured are the students harvesting sedge, students carrying willow plants, and PWS Member Patty Franklin sharing her grandmother’s feather basket.

29/05/2025

Pictured: You, studying for one of these summer courses you still have time to enroll in ✨

🌍 ARTH 225: Art & Enlightenment is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session I, led by Rebecca Duffy Stasiunas.
Students will examine eighteenth-century painting, sculpting, architecture, decorative arts, and material culture in Europe, the Americas, and the African diaspora within frameworks of global cultural exchange and Enlightenment science, politics, philosophy, and society.

⌛️ ARTH 228: Modern Art Since 1900 is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session II, taught by Claudia Marion Stemberger.
Students will explore the cultural breadth of modern art through readings and discussions of global architecture, craft, live art, painting and photography.

Art credit: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, "Comtesse de la Châtre" (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848). Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

27/05/2025

19/05/2025

Yesterday, May 18, was International Museum Day! 🎉🏛

Old College Gallery and Mechanical Hall are two of UD's prime locations to view art and rotating exhibitions year-round. These museum spaces are resources for students and faculty to explore art curation, interpretation, education and celebration. 🖼

We look forward to future exhibitions and the stories they will bring to campus! 🙌

15/05/2025

A few more seats are available in ARTH 433-010/080 Seminar in Orientalism and Postcolonial Art History: "Things Chinese" for non-Art History majors! 🔍

⌛ Details: Fall 2025 on Mondays, 10:20am-1:20pm
The instructor, Vimalin Rujivacharakul, notes that this course is an excellent choice for students planning to fulfill the CAS requirement in Second Writing and/or the University Capstone. The course also includes exclusive access to Winterthur Museum's galleries and their famous Chinese Parlor. Students can enroll in a regular or honors session.

🖌 Image description: Wall covering by unknown maker. China, 1775-1800. Ink, distemper, paper. Photograph by James Schneck. Collection Number: 1969-1084. Bequest of Henry Francis duPont, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library.

08/05/2025

🌳 Are you interested in enrolling in an Art History summer course? Consider the following:

🎨 ARTH 228: Modern Art Since 1900 is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session II. Claudia Marion Stemberger will lead students to explore the cultural breadth of modern art through readings and discussions of painting, collage, sculpture, photography, performance, installation, institutional critique, and time-based media.

🌏 ARTH 225: Art & Enlightenment is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session I. Lecturer Rebecca Duffy Stasiunas and students will examine eighteenth-century painting, sculpting, architecture, decorative arts, and material culture in Europe, the Americas, and the African diaspora within frameworks of global cultural exchange and Enlightenment science, politics, philosophy, and society.

📸 Art credits:

Sophie Taeuber-Arp, "Abstract Motif (Masks): Vertical-Horizontal Composition" (1917). Gouache and graphite on paper. Courtesy of Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin.

Moses Williams, "Charles Willson Peale" (1803-1805). Hollow-cut profile with pen and black ink and traces of graphite on wove paper. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

29/04/2025

🎆 The Spring 2025 Spark! Symposium brought together UD graduate students and scholars under the theme of 'Within and Beyond our Senses: Art, Exploration and Sustainability.'

🏆 Tiziana Capizzi, a doctoral student in art history and a recipient of the University Graduate Scholars Award, was selected by audience vote for the Glow Award for her talk, “Jasmine or Lotus: Foot-binding in Colonial South America Art.”

💙💛 Rebecca Giles and Abigail Dudley, both master’s students in fine arts and recipients of the University Graduate Scholars Award, also presented at the symposium.

Read more on UDaily: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/april/spring-25-spark-symposium/

24/04/2025

☀️ Summer session registration is open - it's the perfect time to think about enrolling in an Art History course! Consider the following:

🧠 ARTH 225: Art & Enlightenment is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session I. Lecturer Rebecca Duffy Stasiunas and students will examine eighteenth-century painting, sculpting, architecture, decorative arts, and material culture in Europe, the Americas, and the African diaspora within frameworks of global cultural exchange and Enlightenment science, politics, philosophy, and society.

🏛 ARTH 228: Modern Art Since 1900 is an asynchronous online course during Summer Session II. Led by Claudia Marion Stemberger, students will explore the cultural breadth of modern art through readings and discussions of global architecture, craft, live art, painting and photography.

📸 Art credits:
Moses Williams, "Charles Willson Peale" (1803-1805). Hollow-cut profile with pen and black ink and traces of graphite on wove paper. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Sophie Taeuber-Arp, "Abstract Motif (Masks): Vertical-Horizontal Composition" (1917). Gouache and graphite on paper. Courtesy of Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin.

08/04/2025

📜 Join renowned architects, architectural historians, conservators, and historic preservationists to discuss the University of Delaware's campus & architectural history.

Afternoon of Architecture is a public panel and conversation taking place Wednesday, April 16 from 2-4:30 pm at Old College Hall 212.

Register to attend and learn more about the invited speakers at this link: https://events.udel.edu/event/afternoon-of-architecture-4163

Seats are limited! Included are Reception and Spotlight Tours of the Colors of Old College Exhibition.

Pictured are blueprints for Old College Hall on the UD campus 🏛

03/04/2025

🖼 You can still register for the next Graduate Student Lecture Series talk!

📝 April 7 | 12:30 pm | Old College Hall 212 or Zoom

🎤 Dr. Anna Arabindan-Kesson from Princeton University will present "Looking with Edward Mitchell Bannister" and consider the artist's relationship to nature and landscapes, and more.

✅ Register here: https://delaware.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1TgZ9xrM1MqFtyK

🖌 Art credit: Edward Mitchell Bannister, Cove at Sunset, 1880-1900. Oil on board, 27 x 32.8 cm. Harvard Art Museums.

02/04/2025

🌞 This August, the UD Department of Art History is offering a trip for alumni and friends to Santa Fe, New Mexico: "Native American Art in Santa Fe: Makers, Museums & Markets."

🏜 Explore the cultural heritage of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with expert guidance from Dr. Jessica Horton, Associate Professor of Contemporary Native American Art, and Dr. Sandy Isenstadt, Professor and Chair of Art History.

🌽 This trip includes visits to The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), the sacred Feast Day celebration at Santa Clara Pueblo, leading galleries like the Niman Gallery, and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian.

🌳 We'll also travel to the Poeh Cultural Center, the Allan Houser Sculpture Garden, and the Scottish Rite Temple. The trip will wrap at the Santa Fe Indian Market, North America’s largest Native American art fair.

✅ Join us from August 10-17, 2025, for an unforgettable adventure. Check out the UD website for more details and the program brochure: https://www.udel.edu/alumni-friends/connect/udaa/udaa-alumni-travel/