Grace Strong is a senior who will be graduating this spring with a double major in History of Art & Architecture and Italian Studies, and certificate in Medieval & Renaissance studies. After graduation Grace hopes to pursue a career in development for an art museum, or cultural institution, encouraged by the various internships she has had with the Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz History Center, and British Institute of Florence.
Grace has focused on Italian history and art history during her time at Pitt, which has been reflected in her research interests of cultural exchange and current status of art historical discourse. Her thesis work this spring focuses on the gaps in art historical discourse due to the disparity in research on artists other than the “masters” from various locales away from Florence, Rome, or Venice. Her background in Italian literature, semester spent in Florence, and fellowship received for this current semester has all supported her research. With the Humanities and Social Sciences Graduate Research Seminar Fellowship Grace has enrolled in the graduate renaissance art seminar course this semester, engaging with graduate students on various art theories that have provided a more encompassing understanding for her research topic.
At HAAARCH Grace will deliver a talk on 15th century Italian artist, Carlo Crivelli. Neglected from important historical texts, like Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, this talk will highlight the unique style Crivelli honed in the isolated east coast region of Italy and the impact he had on other artists from the area.