Our Newest Alumni: Meet the 2022 Art History Graduates

We are proud to introduce the 2022 FSU Art History graduates! The following recipients of BA, MA, and PhD degrees in Art History excelled in their coursework, extracurricular, and professional activities in a period of constant change, from pandemic shutdown to a gradual return to “nearly normal.” They curated exhibitions, completed impressive independent research projects and museum internships, participated in campus-wide service organizations, and presented impressive papers in conferences at home and abroad. We are excited to see what these emerging scholars accomplish next.

Spring Commencement for the College of Fine Arts will be held on Sunday, May 1 at 10:00am at the Tucker Civic Center.

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	Samantha-Love Boddie completed the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History with a minor in History. Her main research interest has been art during World War II, particularly propaganda posters. Outside of her studies, Samantha practices special effects makeup, and she is moving to Germany later this year to obtain a certification in Makeup Design for Film and Television at the Make-Up Designory in Berlin. She hopes to eventually work on productions; her career goal is to do makeup for war films. In the spring of 2022 Sam received the Helen J. Beard Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence in the Major, the department’s highest academic honor.
	Brittney Pieper completed the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Studio Art with a minor in Museum Studies. She will enter the Art History graduate program in the fall of 2022 with a focus in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. Brittney is interested in amplifying minority voices in the museum space, and she intends to expand on this passion in graduate school through coursework and internships.
	Gabrielle Little completed the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Art History, with a minor in Italian and a certificate in Emergency Management and Homeland Security. During her time at FSU, she has participated in FSU Mock Trial, Student Senate, Phi Mu Fraternity, and the Undergraduate Art History Association (UAHA). Next year, she will be attending the University of Wisconsin Law School on a full-ride scholarship; she hopes to one day work in the field of art law.
	Olivia Ross completed the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History with a minor in Museum Studies. Her future plans include moving to Colorado to pursue her interest in museum work at the Denver Art Museum. Olivia hopes to attend graduate school in Museology at the University of Washington, where she can pursue her research interest in northwest Indigenous art.  Olivia writes that her best undergraduate experience was interning abroad at the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret in London, England. “If you have the ability to intern abroad, take the opportunity!”
	Theo Smith completed the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. During his time at FSU, he studied abroad in London and Moscow, and on the main campus he volunteered and eventually interned for the Museum of Fine Arts. Some of his favorite memories of the department include researching the Mimar Sinan plates under the direction of Dr. Lynn Jones for the Identity in the Ottoman Empire exhibition at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts, and transcribing Naiad Press co-founder Donna McBride’s oral history interview for the upcoming MoFA exhibition It’s A Lot Like Falling in Love: Legacies of Naiad Press in the Tallahassee Lesbian Community. Post-graduation, he hopes to find more ways to combine his interests in language, visual history, and urban farming.
	Kylie Stracuzzi graduated in the fall of 2021 with the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and has since joined the staff of the Museum of Florida History as a part-time Museum Education Program Representative. She is excited to see where her work leads her, and is considering graduate school in art history or art education in the future. Kylie writes, “Going into my last semester at FSU, I participated in Dr. Bick’s Art History Methods seminar and Capstone Symposium, in which I presented my own individual research project on late modernist chromatic abstraction and traditional African American quilt making. Presenting my research in front of my peers and influential Art History faculty gave me a surge of confidence and confirmed my interest in continuing my education in the future.”
	Ivy Bealyer completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies. During her studies, her research has centered around the impact of temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. In her second year Ivy participated in The Ringling Course, a yearlong internship at The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL, where she has been mentored by Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art Ola Wlusek. During the internship Ivy contributed to preparatory work for the installation of exhibitions and the building of public programs. Ivy has served in multiple departmental roles, including officer of the Art History Association and graduate assistant, all while maintaining a second remote internship with ArtRepublic Global. In May, Ivy will join the ArtRepublic team in Miami as Assistant Curator.
	Josie Boyer completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. Before graduate school and her yearlong internship at The Ringling, she was a professional art instructor and Scuba Guide in Maui, HI. Josie is an advocate for accessible art and programs. She created the project Soundscapes of Gallery 21 for museum guests with low or no vision, or guests who want to learn about the art in a nonlinear manner. Josie plans to continue to design accessible programs as well as create art. “I am a mom, and I know I wanted to further my education for my daughter. Having an internship at The Ringling gave me the opportunity to curate my own program. I had the privilege to be involved with exhibition installation, design, photography, marketing, documentation of art in the vaults, gallery talks, and working alongside brilliant curators. The museum staff here have such a wealth of knowledge and are the true foundation of the museum-they were the best thing about the museum! I hope what I’ve done here, and what I continue to do will inspire my daughter to pursue her dreams, no matter the circumstance.”
	Emma Driggers completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies. In her second year she participated in The Ringling Course and served on the Graduate Student Symposium Committee. Emma describes invaluable museum experiences in her yearlong internship at The Ringling: processing a collection from start to finish in the archives, assisting with educational programing and events, and researching and creating wall texts and the soundtrack for Ballroom Florida: Deco & Desire in Japan’s Jazz Age, currently on view at The Ringling. “My time in the MCHS program has been one of the most influential experiences I’ve had in my life. Despite the pandemic necessitating online classes during the first year, my professors and mentors still made the coursework personalized and relevant. In a future career, I want to emphasize and practice the same inclusivity, equity, transparency, accessibility, empathy, and community-centered interpretation and action that we have been taught as student interns. Overall, I’m so thankful for the education, all of my mentors and professors, but especially for the experiences I’ve had with the friends I’ve made during the my time in the MCHS program.”
	Yatil Etherly completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies. During his second year in the program, Yatil worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for FSU Libraries as part of the Immersive Scholarship Team, collaborating with Digital Research and Scholarship Librarian Matt Hunter to expand university support of research that utilizes 3D modeling, 3D printing, and extended reality technologies. His capstone exhibition Thinking in 3D: Utilizing the Future to Reimagine the Past is on display now in the Art & Design Library. Yatil writes, “My time in the Art History program has been nothing short of amazing! I’ve had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects, use new and innovative preservation technologies, and explore critical issues in the museum world.” With a background in Anthropology and Information Technology, and with research interests in cultural heritage work, immersive scholarship, and digital humanities, Yatil plans to continue exploring the capability of utilizing digital technologies to empower historically marginalized groups within the museum and beyond.
	Charlie Farrell completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. Charlie also participated in The Ringling Course yearlong internship at The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, and served on two committees: the Graduate Student Symposium Committee and the Anti-Racist and Equity team. Their research interests are rooted in African diasporic art. Charlie is deeply grateful for the guidance she has received over the past two years and is excited for the next chapter of her life.
	Paris Gilstrap received the Master of Arts degree in Art History. She focuses on contemporary and modern art with particular research interests in migration and diaspora studies, the art of the francophone world, public art, performance art, and photography. During her graduate studies at FSU, she collaborated with artists to write the catalog for the MFA Graduating Artists show Bodies of Meaning at the Museum of Fine Arts, and interned in the Research and Collections department at the Museum of Florida History. Paris plans to work in a gallery or museum in New York post-graduation with the goal of working towards a career in curation. She also plans to return to school for a PhD in Art History. “My favorite memories are finally returning to campus after the pandemic, meeting all of the first-year MAs and other students, and planning events as an Art History Association officer. I am so grateful to the students and patrons who made the book sale I planned a success with the enthusiasm and energy they brought to the fundraiser, which raised over five hundred dollars for student activities. I would also like to thank the faculty for their support throughout my time at FSU.”
	Madison Grigsby completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. She also participated in the yearlong internship at The Ringling, working primarily with the curator of circus, Jennifer Lemmer Posey. Madison assisted in researching and writing short biographies for over 120 circus performers for an exhibition opening this summer, The Greatest Show on Earth. Her capstone project this spring is an exhibit on historic circus posters, titled Fact, Fiction, or Fantastical Exaggeration?  Using QR codes, Madison challenges visitors to guess whether the extraordinary claims made by circus posters were true, false, or exaggerated. Madison writes, “Overall, I’ve had an amazing experience at the Ringling, and hope to start a new job in exhibition design within the next few months.”
	Anneliese Hardman received the Master of Arts in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies and a certificate in Edu-Curation. During her two years in the program, she served on the inaugural student committee for the Graduate Student Symposium and presented research at 7 national and international conferences. She served as a panelist at the International Network of Museums for Peace Summer 2020 conference, gave a gallery talk at The Ringling, and guest lectured on peace museums during a Cambodian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies ACT course. Anneliese is thankful to the Art History faculty for providing numerous opportunities for publications, including her most recent article, “Cambodian Artistic Resilience: Outlets of Khmer Cultural Survival since the Khmer Rouge.” She is also thankful for her current opportunity to co-author a book chapter with Dr. Jay Boda and her MCHS colleagues. Anneliese has held museum internships at the Woodrow Wilson House in Washington, D.C.; Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado: the Imperial War Museum in London, England; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL; and at The Ringling. Building upon her first MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, she is preparing to pursue doctoral studies in Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the fall of 2022. Her studies will focus on the revitalization of art history in countries recovering from genocide, specifically focused on the art of Cambodia.
	Sara Kuba completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies. While spending her second year of graduate work as an intern at The Ringling, she worked with the education department, facilitating family and accessibility programming. Her focus has been the development of creative access opportunities, such as a new program for the museum in the form of a sensory kit.  She also worked for the Florida State University Union for three years and joined the Special Events department while at The Ringling. One of her favorite activities was being a co-president of the graduate Art History Association to help bring together the art history department community. After graduation she hopes to find a career in museum education to continue being an advocate for accessibility in cultural institutions.
	Sahara Lyon completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History, with a research focus in modern and contemporary art. She is particularly interested in contemporary engagements with figuration and portraiture, as well as the intersection between postcolonial identity and power in global contemporary art. During her time in the graduate program Sahara served as faculty meeting representative and on the Graduate Symposium Committee, organizing and planning the 38th annual Art History Graduate Symposium. In the Fall of 2021, she was named the inaugural Patricia Rose Fellow as a graduate assistant working in the Rose Library. She also worked in her second year at The Grove Museum as a museum educator, leading tours, engaging with visitors, and creating educational programming for the museum. Sahara plans to continue her studies and earn her PhD in art history in the future.
	Gabriela Montesdeoca completed the Master of Arts degree in Art History with a focus in Museum & Cultural Heritage studies. Her research interests have been in environmental sustainability’s role in various aspects of museums as an institution. She too participated in The Ringling Course, spending her second year of graduate work as an intern at The Ringling in Sarasota, FL. For her capstone project, she created an educational program series focused on Florida Native Plants at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. “I am grateful for engaging classes and hands-on experience through my internships that have allowed me to not only learn, but also find my passion in museum education.” She is currently optimistically applying to roles in museum education and outreach positions.
	Natasha Zabala graduated in the fall of 2021 with the Master of Arts degree in Art History, with a particular focus on decolonizing museums and museum studies courses. She has been volunteering with The Grove Museum since September of 2021, and is applying for registrar and collections management positions; she writes, “I hope to apply all that I have learned from my amazing Art History professors towards my future career. I’m also presenting a paper at the SECAC Conference in Baltimore this October. This paper was a work I did for Dr. Neuman’s course on Early Modern Women titled ‘Into the White Male Mind: The Issue with Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem’s Bathsheba’s Black Presence.’ I am excited for what the future holds and eager to get started on a life-long career of helping museums become inclusive spaces that are engaging, educational, and accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.”

The following three scholars received the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Art History this year; click the names to read more about their extensive accomplishments!

Jennifer Baez	Rachel Masters Carlisle	Emily Thames

Congratulations also to:

Emma Bailey, BA in Art History
Dale Barnes, BA in Art History, Helen J. Beard Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence in the Major
Callia Blake, BA in Art History
Emily Bleske, BA in Art History
Steven Boies, BA in Art History, Helen J. Beard Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence in the Major
Tara Bracken, BA in Art History
Janet Diaz Marcelin, BA in Art History
Gabrielle Hamada, BA in Art History
Stephanie Henao, BA in Art History
Kendal McDowell, BA in Art History
Sophie Middleton, BA in Art History
Maddy Muller, BA in Art History
Mackenzie Parr, BA in Art History, Helen J. Beard Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence in the Major
Bailey Ratliff, BA in Art History
Bailey Richards, BA in Art History
Olivia Ross, BA in Art History
Katharine Summers, BA in Art History

Justin Sosnicki, MA in Art History
Mathilde Pateau, MA in Art History, Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies