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
In 2018, we welcomed back works of art from the Corcoran Gallery to serve as the foundation of a rich research collection available to students, faculty and the public. We also welcomed the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery to the first floor of the Flagg building in summer 2018, along with exhibitions like Lone Prairie and Bridging Boundaries. Recently, the Corcoran was proud to exhibit “Spiked: The Unpublished Political Cartoons of Rob Rogers,” which displays the original unpublished editorial cartoons of Rob Rogers, alongside larger, colorized versions that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette withheld from publication, prior to Roger’s dismissal in June 2018. We look forward to hosting a series of conversations regarding issues around freedom of the press in collaboration with the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs in fall 2018.
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.
2018-2019 William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement
Cristal Chanelle Truscott is a playwright, scholar, educator, dialogue facilitator and founder of Progress Theatre. As a playwright, Cristal blends academic and pop-culture conversations to examine the concerns and struggles of our times.
Interaction Design Program Launch
The Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Arts degrees in Interaction Design invite students to design solutions to complex human challenges—from designing smart devices to reimagining educational environments. Interaction designers reimagine the products and interfaces that shape our world, often making them more useful and more fun.
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.
