New Voices in Art History

Indya is a second-year graduate student pursuing her M.A. in Art History. She is interested in modern and contemporary art of the African diaspora and her current research project investigates the memory of water in black women’s creative practices. Merging the poetic and political, she explores how water shapes black women’s collective memories. In addition to her graduate research, she worked as an interpretation intern at the Institute of Contemporary Art and is currently a special collections intern at the Richmond Public Library.

Sanija Dowden is a second-year Master’s student at VCUarts, pursuing a M.A. in Museum Studies. She is from Chesapeake, Virginia and her post-grad plans involve pursuing a career in curation. Sanija’s passion for storytelling has been a lifelong journey, beginning early on in life and evolving into a deeply rooted interest in curating art that reflects narratives of identity, culture and heritage. Her research is primarily focused on contemporary African Diasporic art, which acts as a catalyst for her goal of amplifying underrepresented voices in the global art scene—a passion that continues to shape her curatorial aspirations today.

Grace Figueroa is a Virginia native and a second-year graduate student, pursuing their Master of Arts in Art History. Their research interests lie in 20th-century visual culture, with a focus on print culture, propaganda and censorship and the visual construction of marginalized identities. They have been a recipient of the Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the culmination of which was presented at SECAC 2022, and their work can be found in New Classicists through the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. Currently, Grace is a Provenance Research intern at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Charlotte’s research interests lie in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica with a focus on U.S. collection histories of West Mexican ceramics. Her Master’s research looks at early representations of Maya material culture in Europe and the United States during the nineteenth century, especially the works of Frederick Catherwood. Charlotte had a four-year internship with the education department at the Clark Art Institute while at Williams College and is now a Collections Management intern for the Raysor Center for Works on Paper at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She aims to carry her experiences in these positions to a future in museum curation.

Hayley Secrist’s research interests focus on fiber arts and their development and categorization as both craft and art. She works to challenge these distinctions and their intersections as they relate to race, gender, sexuality and class. She is interested in fiber arts as a tool for political activism, and their ability to break down hierarchies in both art and society. Her current Master’s work focuses on the canonization of Harriet Powers and her quilts, in contrast to the way she has been engaged within a Black Feminist context. These ideas are rooted in a practice of an ethics of care.

While pursuing her undergraduate studies, Evelyn Vandrey decided to continue her passion for museums through VCUarts’ 4+1 Accelerated Program in Art History. Her research centers on advertising, paper crafts and the relationship between art and print culture. She is currently studying how cosmetic advertising shapes consumer perception, focusing on the visual and linguistic strategies that construct personal and national identities. After interning at the Valentine, the Poe Museum and the VMFA, Evelyn aims to pursue a career in collections management.

John Walker is an artist, designer and curator whose work examines technocapitalist systems and interactions. He holds a B.F.A. in Art and Technology from the University of Florida, where he received the Jerry Uelsmann Scholarship, and was recently awarded the Margaret N. Gottwald Scholarship at VCUarts. He has curated exhibitions at the University of Florida’s 4Most Gallery and VCUarts’ the Anderson, and previously served as Technical Director of Moisturizer Gallery. His research-based artwork has been exhibited internationally, including at the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Taman Ismail Marzuki and Satellite Art Show at Art Basel Miami.

Nico DeBoeser is an Art History major and Religious Studies minor at VCUarts, currently participating in the Accelerated Master’s program. They enjoy researching and writing about the visual culture of the Western United States, exploring how the image of the cowboy and representations of the landscape play together as American giants. Nico has previously participated in the SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium, and involves themselves in the departmental community by serving as President of the Art History Club at VCU. Outside of work, Nico loves to spend time with friends, play video games, and watch Columbo (1968).

Alexander Lucas is a first year Art History major in VCU’s Honors College. He spent most of his high school years working on his own photography and curating portfolios within different fields within the arts, including three years of courses in digital photography, film photography and alternative printing processes. During this time, he completed a program at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), specializing in alternative printing processes, accompanied by a final gallery showing. His presentation is on the ethics of artistic photojournalism, including its history and current relevance.

Arlo Neidich is a fourth year undergraduate student in the Art History department at VCUarts. His research interests include German Expressionism, postwar abstraction and reception theory. Beyond his academic studies, Arlo currently serves as the Social Media Team Manager for the Art History Club at VCU. After graduation, he plans to pursue a Master’s in Art History as well as a career in art museum education.