Very often the most important career choice a student will make is yet ahead: the shift in field from what they took as an undergraduate to what they will take in graduate school or in their choice of careers.
Students in art history find that their training in research, writing, broad historical knowledge and analyzing visual thinking serves them well for a wide variety of fields, such as gallery, museum, consulting, individual entrepreneurship in design related businesses. Careers in gallery or museum work usually require a major and an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history. Art history majors actually have a higher rate of acceptance to medical and law schools than pre-med and pre-law majors as it equips them for innovative thinking and effective cross-cultural communication. A minor in art history and a major in any other humanistic discipline, such as history, language, literature, English, philosophy, religion, etc. is also an effective preparation for application to a masters or Ph.D. programs in art history.
Notable Alumni
Elizabeth Schlatter, ’93, earned her M.A. in Art History from George Washington University. She is Deputy Director and Curator of Exhibitions at the University of Richmond Museums, Virginia.
Kris Ercums, ’93, received his M.A. in the History of Art from the University of Chicago. He is currently Curator of Global Contemporary & Asian Art at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Mary Fuller, ’00, received her M.A. in Arts Administration from Boston University in 2002. She is Chief Operating Officer of San Francisco’s Hack the Hood, which addresses digital equity by training low-income kids to build websites for local small businesses. Hack the Hood won $500,000 in the 2014 Google Bay Area Impact Challenge.
Jocelyn Widmer, ’03, holds a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning with a concentration in international development (University of Florida), in addition to a Masters in Landscape Architecture (Texas A&M). She is currently Program Director of the Online Degree Program, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Florida.
Josh Franco, ’06, earned his M.A. in Philosophy, Interpretation, & Culture from Binghamton University, SUNY in 2010, and his Ph.D. in the Art History Department at Binghamton in 2016. He is currently the Latino Collections Curator at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.
Arbye Curtis, ’06, is Director of Client Relations at Employer Direct Healthcare in Chicago. From 2010-15, he was Senior National Account Executive at Cigna Healthcare
Anna Nau, ’06, earned her M.A. in Architectural History from the University of Virginia (2009), and M.Sc., Architectural Conservation from Edinburgh College of Art (2011). She works as Architectural Conservator for Ford Powell and Carson Architects in San Antonio, TX, and is also in the Ph.D. program in Architecture and Historic Preservation at the University of Texas, Austin.
Mary (Claire) Angle, ’07, earned her M.A. in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012. She is currently Assistant Director of School-Based Learning at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio.
Genevieve Ellis,’08, completed her Masters of Public Health from Portland State University in 2014, and is now working in Portland with the Coalition of Community Health Clinics, managing the enrollment, quality improvement, emergency preparedness, and intern programs.
Holly Gordon, ’09, earned her M.A. in Art History at the University of Richmond, London in 2010, and her Doctor of Law (JD) at the George Washington University Law School in 2015, specializing in Copyright, Entertainment, and Art Law. She is currently an Associate at Guerrieri, Clayman, Bartos & Parcelli law firm in Washington, DC.
Kelly Johnson, ’12, completed her M.A. in the curatorial graduate program at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Curatorial Practice MFA (CPMFA) program in Baltimore, MD in 2015. Johnson was awarded the Elizabeth Stafford Hutchinson Endowed Internship at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, curated several exhibitions in Baltimore, and is currently the Volunteer and Program Coordinator at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas.
Megan DiNoia, Dec ’12, was awarded a Curatorial Internship at the Guggenheim Museum, in New York City, and will be entering the M.A. Program in Art History at New York University in 2016.
Denise Gonzalez, ’13, is Studio and Gallery Programs Assistant at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Christina Hadly, ’13, is Business Affairs Coordinator at Pereira & O’Dell Advertising and Marketing Firm, San Franciso.
Elizabeth Kajs, ’13, earned her MLitt in the History of Art from the University of St. Andrew’s, Scotland, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art at the University of Bristol, UK.
Morgan Drake, ’15, is currently a JD (Juris Doctor) candidate in Cultural Heritage & Law, International Law, and Intellectual Property Law at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago.