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Felicia Herzog '10 and Lauren Knabel '10 |
Randolph-Macon College art history students Felicia Herzog ’10 and Lauren Knabel ’10 are two of three finalists in the Art History section of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)
Insights Student Symposium, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. on April 9, 2010 at the Pauley Center of the Virginia Museum.
The students’ papers were chosen for the originality and depth of their research and their focus on an artist whose work is currently in the collection of the museum. After review by art historians and curators one paper will be chosen for publication on the VMFA Web site.
Felicia Herzog began her SURF (Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship) project under the supervision of R-MC Associate Professor of Art History Evie Terrono. Herzog subsequently expanded the scope of the research as part of her senior thesis in art history. Her research explores the socio-cultural climate in Richmond, Virginia in the 1950s and the impact of the Red Scare on the critical reception of Stuart Davis’
Little Giant Still Life, currently in the collection of the VMFA.
Lauren Knabel, working with Terrono, researched and wrote on “The Political Cartoons of George H. Ben Johnson in the Early Twentieth Century” for her senior thesis in art history. Johnson was a prolific African American cartoonist in Richmond, employed at the
Richmond Planet, a leading African America newspaper. Through his cartoons, Johnson sensitized his audiences to the dehumanizing experiences of his race and the social and economic injustices of the period.
“Lauren and Felicia devoted remarkable time and effort in conducting true scholarly research, and examining primary sources, such as artists' letters, critical reviews and congressional records, in order to understand the artistic contributions of these artists, but also analyze the political and historical significance of these works in the context of their times," said Terrono.
Terrono, who joined the faculty at R-MC in 1990, earned her B.A. at the University of Crete, her M.A. at Queens College and her Ph.D. at the City University of New York.
For information on R-MC’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/Academics/research/guidelines.aspx.
For information on R-MC’s art history program, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/academics/art-history.aspx.
For more information on the Insights Student Symposium
http://www.vmfa.museum/college_insights.html.