UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Holli Turner, a doctoral candidate in the Penn State Department of Art History, participated in July in the Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL) Seminar, sponsored by the Mellon Foundation.
The CCL/Mellon Seminar in Curatorial Practice provides art history doctoral students in all fields of specialty with an in-depth introduction to working in museums. The two-week intensive combines exhibition and collection tours, conversations with curators and cultural leaders, and group exercises at New York City institutions.
Following a highly competitive selection process, Turner was one of 15 students to take part in the seminar, which introduces art history doctoral candidates at the outset of their careers to the daily challenges and strategic questions of museum practice.
“It means a great deal to me to have been selected for this program, and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity,” Turner said. “I feel like my acceptance into this program is a shining and critical moment in the development of meaningful networking opportunities, community building and my future career.”
During the seminar, Turner met with various professionals in the field such as curators, department heads, museum directors, program and financial officers, and trustees.
As a specialist in the art of early modern Europe, Turner said some of the most valuable experiences included a conversation and tour with Stephan Wolohojian, curator in charge of the Department of European Paintings at The Met; meeting and conducting exercises in connoisseurship with John Marciari, department head of drawings and prints at The Morgan Library and Museum; and a Q&A with Daria Foner, assistant vice president and specialist of old master paintings at Sotheby’s.
“Additionally, the CCL staff were supportive of my dissertation research and painterly studies and copies that I work on in tandem with my dissertation,” Turner said. “The program further nurtured my love of art objects, museums and knowledge of the art of early modern Europe with a special interest in materials and techniques.”
At Penn State, Turner studies under Daniel Zolli, associate professor of art history. After completing her doctorate, she plans to pursue a career serving in curatorial departments of European paintings at museums that are interested in the various intersections of their department’s galleries such as material studies, race and gender.
“It is up to me, as I navigate the completion of my dissertation, to continue to cultivate this wonderful gift and opportunity afforded to me by the CCL,” Turner said.