BA in Art History

Kellie White, 2016

How did you decide on the Art History major?

I decided to study art history after completing an A.P. art history course during my junior year of high school. It was a combination of both my inspiring and brilliant teacher Mrs. Riech and the material that she taught that encouraged me to pursue art history as an area of study. The very next year when I began applying for colleges, I knew that art history was the right choice for me.

Are you minoring or double majoring in anything else? If so, how do the two work together – or  separately?

I am a double major in Anthropology and Art History, as well as minoring in Women and Gender Studies. All three of these programs work both independently and in tandem. In the fall I will be taking Professor Todd’s “Gender in American Art” course which is a great combination of both the studies of art history and women and gender studies. Women and gender studies works very well with the anthropological field too, as many of the current researchers on gender and sexualities are completing in-depth, long term, and highly personal ethnographic field work. To combine all three of these fields, one may argue that understanding the cultural context of an artwork or multiple artworks is heavily influenced by cultural anthropology and its intersections with history – voilà, you have a new brand of “Women and Gender Art Histories.”

What have you learned in an art history class that really surprised you/changed your perspective?

Something that I learned in my Chinese Art class which was taught by Professor Carmelita Hinton, was about a Chinese painting technique called “iron wire line.” It appears very much as it sounds, it is a long thin and firm line achieved through a very steady and unwavering brushstroke. This technique is seemingly simplistic in nature, but when we attempted it ourselves we found its difficulty was much greater than it appeared. What truly changed my perspective was the aesthetic value of Chinese paintings that contained the technique. Western painting often involves very complex and dense brushwork, but seeing such line work and all of the beauty it represented caused me to rethink how we value certain aesthetics over others—traditional art history usually favors Western art over non-Western art. Non-Western art is always the “lesser” art form because of its perceived simplicity, but the reality is, there is a vast difference in aesthetics that ideally should prevent one culture’s art from being ranked as superior to another’s. This realization reaffirmed the worth of all art forms, from all cultures and backgrounds, and allowed me to consider the structural inequalities that affect the ways in which we approach certain types of art.

Tell us about your dream occupation…

My dream occupation would be to work at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in nearby Washington D.C. as a curator! I want to merge my interests in women and gender studies and art history and help teach the world about women, minorities, and LGBTQ individuals who create art and the history surrounding it. I would happily be a professor and/or academic as well – one who teaches art history courses and writes about individuals and their art work that are underrepresented in the current art history world. Generally I want to work in an environment where I am able to work with non-traditional art forms and subjects, one in which artists with marginalized identities have the loudest voices.

Have you had any internships? Or interesting jobs or volunteer experience? Tell us about it/them.

 I currently am a student in the Mount Vernon Archeological Field School. It is a five-week program that teaches basic archeological practices, architectural drawing, and historical preservation at the beautiful home of George Washington. After only one week I am absolutely in love with the work that we do. We’re currently working on two excavation projects. One is behind the reconstructed kitchen and the other is identifying grave shafts in the African American cemetery. We have already learned so very much about stratigraphy, how to catalogue artifacts, the history of Mt. Vernon itself, and practical techniques while excavating.

In addition, I work part time at a film center in Merrifield which fuels my love of cinema. I find that observing contemporary works of art such as films has the potential to be very useful to the art historical field, as they are not traditional art forms and they have the opportunity to represent a wide variety of identities.

Any accomplishments you’re proud of? Opportunities you’ve taken advantage of? Brag a little!

I am happy to say that I was accepted to present at a women and gender studies conference this previous semester. I presented on a paper that I had written about the portrayal of lesbian relationships in contemporary cinema. The experience was highly enjoyable and I hope to present at a multitude of conferences from both the art history and women and gender studies fields in the future. I was also invited to attend the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders this June, and I was funded to attend with a full scholarship. I received the scholarship to attend this conference largely due to my activism and involvement as a co-president of the Feminist Student Organization at Mason for the 2013/2014 academic year. I am happy to say that I will be returning as a co-president of the organization for the fall of 2014 as well.

In addition to my conference attendance, I consider making Dean’s List for the previous two semesters and my acceptance into the Mt. Vernon field school to both be accomplishments of merit.

Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you.

I love to cook, and I would say that I am not too bad at it. I dearly hope that those I have cooked for would agree!