Leadership
At the Corcoran, we focus on combining creativity, empathy and innovation to connect our creative practice to the greater good. Our leadership embodies these principles.
MEET OUR DIRECTOR
Kym Rice has been named the interim director of Columbian College’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, effective July 12, 2019. She will succeed Sanjit Sethi who, as previously announced, is leaving GW to become the President of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. As the Corcoran’s current Assistant Director for Academic Affairs, Kym worked closely with Sanjit to successfully elevate the arts at GW and open up creative opportunities for interdisciplinary connections across CCAS.
Kym has taught Museum Studies at GW since 1996 and previously served as its program director. She is a member of the CCAS Dean’s Council and in 2019 received the college’s annual award for graduate mentoring. A long-time exhibition developer and curator, Kym works with museums and historical organizations throughout the United States. Her award-winning exhibitions include “A Share of Honour: Virginia Women 1600-1945” for the Virginia Women’s Cultural History Project and “Taverns: For the Entertainment of Friends and Strangers” at Fraunces Tavern Museum. She teaches courses such as Exhibition Script Writing and Curatorial Research & Planning.
CORCORAN STRATEGIC ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Corcoran Strategic Advisory Council is the director's advisory body for the Corcoran. Comprised of distinguished national and international alumni, those from the philanthropic sector, and acclaimed artists and designers, the Council works to address issues impacting the growth and development of the Corcoran.
They help to promote the mission of GW and the Corcoran through their work on the Council. Members serve on a volunteer basis, typically for three-year terms.
OUR ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP
Robert Baker
Program Head, Music, Theatre & Dance
Barbara von Barghahn-Calvetti
Program Head, Art History
Andrea Dietz
Faculty Advisor, Exhibition Design
Dean Kessmann
Program Head, Studio Arts
Erin Kuykendall
Assistant Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Decorative Arts & Design History, in partnership with Smithsonian
Kevin Patton
Director of Graduate Studies, Interaction Design
Laura Schiavo
Program Head, Museum Studies
Catherine Anderson
Program Head, Design
Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Interior Architecture
Stephanie Travis
Program Head, Interior Architecture
DIRECTOR'S HIGHLIGHTS
Ongoing Exhibitions & Programming
During the last academic year, we watched in awe as student artists found creative ways to showcase their skills despite being unable to present projects in person at NEXT 2020, the end-of-year show that gives D.C.’s art community the opportunity to see the latest in contemporary art, design and performance.. The community banded together, as adjunct digital lab instructor James Huckenpahler worked with students and faculty across disciplines to develop and manufacture protective gear and protocol for essential workers at GW Hospital amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As students engaged in the new experience of remote learning, they designed broadway costumes from home, viewed virtual exhibitions, and engaged with guest lecturers like DreamWorks animator Radford Sechrist. We look forward to virtual programming this fall, featuring the work of Women’s Mobile Museum and the magic of data visualization.
Salon Doré Series on Equity
Six times a year, innovative thinkers from diverse fields gather at the Corcoran for the Salon Doré Series, where they discuss issues of equity through the lens of culture and creativity. The setting itself is a powerful symbol of inequity, a French neoclassical salon that was originally meant for the privileged. Grounded in the perspective of the performing and visual arts as important drivers of positive social change, the discussions are community-focused and wide-reaching, centering on creative problem-solving with a goal of formulating fresh, groundbreaking solutions to the pressing problems of our times.
2019-2020 William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement
Paul Rucker, the 2020-2021 Visiting Professor of Community Engagement, is a visual artist, composer, and musician who often combines media, integrating live performance, sound, original compositions and visual art. His work is the product of a rich interactive process, through which he investigates community impacts, human rights issues, historical research and basic human emotions surrounding a particular subject matter.
GW Community Collaborates to Produce PPEs for Hospital Workers
As hospitals cope with a shortage of personal protective equipment due to increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, groups of students and faculty members from across disciplines at the George Washington University have come together to find immediate responses to the needs of health care professionals at GW Hospital. More
Phase One of Our Renovations is Now Complete
GW launched a multiyear, multiphase renovation of the Corcoran School's Flagg Building. After a two year process, phase one of the Flagg Building renovation is now complete with active pedagogical spaces on every floor of the building.
