Art History Newsletter
2026 Program of Art History Newsletter
Message from the Program Head
Spotlight Stories
Faculty Kudos
Alumni Class Notes
Message from the Program Head
Greetings from D.C., where our students are on the front lines—participating and observing—as art and architectural history are being made. More than perhaps ever before, the museums and galleries of the DMV have been serving as our classrooms. Curators of “The Shape of Power” took Prof. Lisa Lipinski’s “History of Exhibitions” seminar on a tour; the class went on to organize their own exhibition at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery, “Portraying the Mask: Personas in Philippe Halsman’s Photography.” Thanks in part to the Corcoran’s partnership with the National Gallery of Art, the East and West Buildings have hosted hundreds of our students, often repeatedly throughout the semesters, including a class co-taught by artist Kara Braciale and NGA Digital Research Officer Matthew J. Westerby on the Index of American Design that will result in an exhibition at the NGA Library. Professor Clement Akpang’s multi-year sequence of classes focused on African art in the GW Collection will also culminate in an exhibition, “Unfossilizing African Art,” in fall 2026. Leading up to this exhibition and accompanying catalogue, students presented research on “Archival Excavation and Context Retrieval” at the Salon Doré (December 2025) and, this summer, will be sharing what they have learned at the annual conference of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries at the University of Iowa. Whether on campus or off, our students are making art history!
PS We also found time to just hang.
Best,
Bibi Obler
Program Head and Associate Professor of Art History
Spotlight Stories
Art History in the Round Showcases Student Scholarship and Creative Practice
Exhibited as a part of NEXT Festival 2026, Art History in the Round featured work by both graduating undergraduate and graduate Art History students. Borrowing from the term used to describe freestanding sculpture able to be viewed from all sides, the exhibition highlighted researching not only the exhibiting artwork, but also the wider social, political, and theoretical conditions in which the works were made. Featuring photographs, ceramics, textiles, and prints, the exhibition celebrates the creative lives of art historians and the ways scholarly inquiry can extend beyond the classroom and into the studio, gallery, and public sphere.
New Micro-Minor Connects Textile and Dress Studies with Hands-On Learning
Coming to the Corcoran in Fall 2026, undergraduate students will be able to declare a nine-credit micro-minor in Textile and Dress Studies. A collaboration between the Corcoran’s Art History program and The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, the micro-minor was created in response to growing student interest in fashion and textile courses and brings together existing coursework in art history, sustainability, global textiles, responsible fashion, and material culture. Students will explore the historical, cultural, and social significance of textiles while taking advantage of GW’s museum resources, including opportunities for object-based research and hands-on learning.
Faculty Kudos
- Associate Professor of Art History and Director of Undergraduate Studies Alexander Dumbadze has published a new book, "Jack Goldstein: All Day Night Sky," with the University of Chicago Press.
- Associate Professor and Program Head Bibiana Obler’s book, “Intimate Collaborations: Kandinsky and Münter, Arp and Taeuber,” is now available as an ebook through the A&Ae portal.
- Professor Alan Wallach, professor emeritus at William & Mary and professorial lecturer at GW, published “Trouble in Paradise.”
- Dr. Jung-Sil Lee, professorial lecturer at GW, contributed to “Modern and Contemporary Korean Art in Context, 1950–Now.”
- Dr. Jung-Sil Lee also organized/participated in the exhibition Écriture with Body: Contemporary Korean Women Artists, presented at the Flagg Building, Hillyer and the Korean Cultural Center.
- Stay tuned for Professor Lisa Lipinski’s forthcoming book, “Dedicated to Art.”
- Assistant Professor Clement Akpang curated Moffat Takadiwa: Recoded Memories. For those who missed the curaexhibition, the catalogue and curator talk is available online.
- Associate Professor Mika Natif presented numerous talks and participated in conferences, including engagements at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and Rutgers University.
Alumni Class Notes
- Gabrielle Langley, BA ’83, is the author of two full length poetry collections: Fairytale and Azaleas in Fire. She is also co-editor of Red Sky: poetry on the global epidemic of violence against women (Sable Books). www.gabriellelangley.com.
- Jason Rosenberg, BA ’23, MA ’24, is currently completing the second semester of his second year at Duke University School of Law, where he continues to explore work at the intersection of art and law.
- Deirdre A. Lafferty, MA ’25, published, “Smoke Shrouded: Reimagining Bamum Kii and the Troubled Legacies of the Cabinet of Curiosities in 21st Century Museums,” with Arts.
- Ana Echemendia, MA ’25, published, “Divergent Connections: Unique Posts from Côte d’Ivoire, Tourist Art and the Implications for Ethical Display,” with Arts.
- Dr. Jordan Amirkhani, MA ’15, started a new position as Artist Programs Manager for Artist Legacy & Engagement at The Joan Mitchell Foundation.
- Dr. Faye Raquel Gleisser, MA ’09, was awarded the Charles C. Eldredge Prize for her book, “Risk Work: Making Art and Guerrilla Tactics in Punitive America, 1967–1987.”