Research Out Loud: Met Fellows Present

Get an inside look at the cutting-edge research conducted by Met fellows in Research Out Loud: Met Fellows Present. Join fellows for the latest in art history, preservation, interpretation, and visual culture, and discover interdisciplinary, creative approaches that bridge the visual arts and other areas of the humanities, sciences, and performing arts. This year, learn how to build a wooden sarcophagus, write like an ancient Greek, design a mosaic, and more. Whether you are an arts and culture professional, a scholar, or art-curious, this series of presentations and gallery programs offers a deep dive into research projects across The Met collection.

All panel presentations are free, though advance registration is required to attend the presentations on Zoom. Talks, tours, and hands-on activities are on-site only and are free with Museum admission. Note: Space is limited; first come, first served.

Thursday, May 7
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Beyond the Image: Trans-Technical Perspectives
• Photographs Under Construction: Producing a Soviet Photobook about Uzbekistan
Alexandra Dennett, Leonard A. Lauder Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Modern Art, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center
• Polaroids as Fashion and Street Photography
Drew Thompson, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Photographs
• Situating Van Der Zee in the Painted Photograph Tradition
Rahul Sharma, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Photograph Conservation
• Time-Based Media Conservation in Practice
Jenny Hsu, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Photograph Conservation

2–3 pm
Amber Adornment: Working with Classical Fibulas
Carlotta Trevisanello, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Greek and Roman Art
Explore materials that people wore in pre-Roman Italy and Greece and create your own brooch. Learn about the history of the fibula (a type of brooch) and recreate your own using beads inspired by amber, bone, and glass paste in the Museum’s collection. This interactive workshop is open to all ages.

3:30–5 pm
How Old Is This Chinese Bronze?
Helena Chen-Abair, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, Department of Asian Art
Drop by to test out your knowledge as a bronze “patina detective.” Learn how color, particle size, and surface texture reveal clues about an artwork’s authenticity, and compare natural bronze patina with common (inorganic) artificial patina made from pigments like emerald green, Prussian blue, and artificial ultramarine.

Friday, May 8
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Body Politics: New Readings on Modern Art
• Boots to Barricades: Shoemakers, Art, and the Paris Commune
Jalen Chang, Leonard A. Lauder Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Modern Art, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center
• Brittle Bodies: Joaquín Torres-García’s Composable Toys
Francesca Ferrari, Former Leonard A. Lauder Post-Doctoral Fellow in Modern Art, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center
• “Africa Is Also Here”: Art and Political Imagination in Brazil
Bruno Pinheiro, Leonard A. Lauder Post-Doctoral Fellow in Modern Art, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center
• James Tissot’s Greenhouse Tableaux
Alex Zivkovic, Leonard A. Lauder Post-Doctoral Fellow in Modern Art, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center

2–3:30 pm
Building a Greek Sarcophagus
Lila Reid, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Objects Conservation
Compare Greek and Roman sarcophagi (a type of coffin) from The Met collection with reconstructed versions of wooden joinery that you can touch. Emulate the process of ancient artisans by taking the joints apart and putting them back together and learn more about the ancient techniques and craftmanship that made these remarkable objects possible.

4–5:30 pm
Metal Thread Revealed: Looking, Touching, Making
Anya Andreeva, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservation Fellow, Department of Textile Conservation
Join us to observe an embroidery demonstration and touch samples of contemporary metal threads while learning about the history of metallic fabrics, as well as the tools, methods, and processes for incorporating metal thread into a textile pattern.

6:30–7:30 pm
Looking Closely at Late Medieval Sculpture
Ellen Purdy, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Scientific Research
Giuseppe Andolina, Slifka Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellow, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Examine late medieval stone sculpture in The Met collection through the eyes of scientists and art historians. Learn about how the presentation and function of polychrome (painted) sculptures has changed, from their original sites throughout medieval Europe to their historical and current installations at the Museum.

Monday, May 11
10:30 am–12:30 pm
What Makes a Painting? The Colorful, Complex, and Painted Surface
• Back in Yellow: The Application of Organic Chemical Analysis to Understudied Natural Pigments in The Met Collection
Shelby Shankel, Sherman Fairchild Foundation Conservation Fellow, Department of Scientific Research
• Indian Paintings on Cloth from the Hodgkin Collection
Ruth Waddington, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Paintings Conservation
• Unsettled Surface: Understanding Efflorescence on Untitled (1971) by Clyfford Still
Emily Landry, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Paintings Conservation
• Revisiting the Italian Paintings in the Robert Lehman Collection
Christopher Daly, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, The Robert Lehman Collection

2–3 pm
Constructing the Panoramic View: A Conversation with An-My Lê
Delaney (Del) Chieyen Holton, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Photographs
An-My Lê, Charles Franklin Kellogg and Grace E. Ramsey Kellogg Professor in the Arts, Bard College
Centered on John Vanderlyn’s monumental Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, this interactive, guided conversation between artist An-My Lê and fellow Delaney Chieyen Holton examines the panoramas as a proto-photographic and proto-cinematic technology and reflects on how panoramic ways of seeing continue to inform our modern visual culture.

3:30–5 pm
Tortoiseshell: Faux or Genuine?
Katherine Shark, Polaire Weissman Fund Conservation Fellow, The Costume Institute
Learn about the history of the use of tortoiseshell and look closely at samples of tortoiseshell material. Use your detective skills to determine whether the samples and examples in nearby galleries are genuine or fake.

Tuesday, May 12
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Decentering Art Histories of the Americas
• Eternal Hiawatha: Interpretations of ‘The Song of Hiawatha’ by US Sculptors in Rome, 1855–1908
Kiki Barnes, Douglass Foundation Fellow, The American Wing
• “Changing the Geography of Knowledge": Printing and Recording Cold War Puerto Rico
Ana Gabriela Rodriguez, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art
• Art on the Margins: Poverty and Mass Advertising in the Work of Bill Traylor
Shane Morrissy, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Drawings and Prints

2–3:30 pm
Mosaic Miniatures: A Roman and Byzantine Mosaic-Making Workshop
Quinn Bolte, Vilcek Curatorial Fellow, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Learn about the historical processes of making mosaics and the design principles behind the wide variety of motifs, color selection, and planning. Then, play with making your own designs using materials that mimic the dimensions and colors of pre-cut mosaic tiles (tesserae) and larger tiles (sectilia).

Thursday, May 14
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Collecting, Presenting, and Conserving at The Met
• Foregrounding Visitor Perspectives: Audience-Centered Interpretive Planning for The Met’s Arms and Armor Reinstallation
Beatrice Gruskin, Interpretive Planning and Evaluation Fellow, Education Department
• The Materiality of Experience: Multi-Sensory Engagement with Glass Objects in the Late Antique and Medieval Eastern Mediterranean
Quinn Bolte, Vilcek Curatorial Fellow, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
• Unearthing Information: Technical Study and Conservation of a Wooden Sarcophagus from the Northern Black Sea Region
Lila Reid, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Objects Conservation
• Collecting Della Robbia at The Met, 1882–Today
Gloria de Liberali, Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

2–4 pm
Sculpture Across Time: A Moving Medium
• Artificial Patination and Surface Treatment in Chinese Bronzes: A Study of Selected Early Acquisitions at The Met
Helena Chen-Abair, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, Department of Asian Art
• “Prepare for us the finest cast of your masterpieces!” Editing and Casting Barye’s Bronzes, Updated Perspectives in Research
Justine Gain, The Slifka Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellow, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
• Imagining Completion: Restoring Beyond Ancient Statues
Julia Rose Katz, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
• Polychromy, Palimpsest, and the Hunt for the 'Original': Scientific Analysis of Late Medieval French Sculpture at The Met
Ellen Purdy, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Scientific Research

Monday, May 18
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Through Lines: Status and Design
• The Fortress at the End of Times: An Enigmatic Motif in Philippe Thomassin’s Last Judgment (1606)
Ianick Takaes de Oliveira, Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow, Department of Drawings and Prints
• The Parallel Histories of Parallel Lines: Ancient American Art on a Modern American Market
Caitlin Davis, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
• Hats Off for Creativity: Materials and Techniques in Lega Hats
Abigail Cottier, Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
• Fringe First: Conservation of a Leather Campeche Chair
Annalise Gall, Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow, Department of Objects Conservation

2–3 pm
Soviet Photobooks Up Close
Alexandra Dennett, Leonard A. Lauder Pre-Doctoral Fellow, The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center
Join this close-looking session to learn more about the Soviet magazines and photo books in the Thomas J. Watson Library Special Collections, and how artists, designers, photographers, printers, and politicians radically reimagined the forms and possibilities of the printed page.

3:30–5 pm
Workshop—Reactivating Ancient Maya Ceramic Vases
Caitlin Davis, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Hear about the role of painted vases in facilitating social bonds among the Classic Maya, then create your own drawings inspired by these objects and share your creations with The Met community.

Tuesday, May 19
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Circulations: Art, Labor, and Collaboration
• Non-Aligned Circulations: Design and Diplomacy in Mid-Century Indo-Western Fashion Exchanges
Matthew Raj Webb, Polaire Weissman Fund Fellow, The Costume Institute
• Pins, Prints, and Pedagogy: Art and the Needle Trades in Popular Front New York
Margot Yale, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art
• Collective Labors: Collaboration as Motif and Method
Jillian Kruse, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Drawings and Prints
• Max Liebermann's Tight Rope: Labor and Precarity in German Painting circa 1900
Jonathan Odden, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of European Paintings

2–3 pm
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Materials in Central African Dress
Abigail Cottier, Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Drop in to find out more about Central African dress traditions and use your sense of touch to generate a deeper understanding of objects in The Met collection by handling representative examples of different materials from objects on display nearby.

4–5 pm
Keepsakes and Clutter: A Hands-On Workshop
Shane Morrissy, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Drawings and Prints
In his painting A Bachelor's Drawer (1890–94), American artist John Haberle used media such as theater stubs, playing cards, photographs, cash, and stamps to document his transition from bachelorhood to a husband and father. Learn about the context for Haberle’s painting and then work with clippings and other ephemera to make your own “biography picture.”

Thursday, May 21
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Art and Identity Across Egypt and Iran
• Inscribing Death: Funerary Writing and Imagery in Ptolemaic Alexandria
Helen Wong, Bothmer Fellow, Department of Greek and Roman Art
• The Legacy of Wadi al-Natrun from Evelyn White's Era to the Present Day
Mary Kupelian, Diana A. and Harry A. Stern Fellow, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
• Revisiting the Architectural Ornament of Early Islamic Nishapur: Insights from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Excavations
Iman Aghajani, J. Clawson Mills Fellow, Department of Islamic Art
• Representations of Sexuality and Constructions of Gender Identity in Iranian Art (Iron Age I–III)
Bita Mesbah, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art

2–4 pm
Transpacific Cultural Landscapes: Art and Politics in Crossing
• A Public Art Proposal and a Restitution Needed in its Wake: Isamu Noguchi Responds to Wahiawā’s Volcanic Rock
Olivia Armandroff, The Diana A. and Harry A. Stern Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
• When “American Orientalism” Met Modern Art: Katherine Dreier’s Encounter with China, 1921–1922
Anran Tu, Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow, Department of Asian Art
• Discontinuous Horizons: Panoramic Vision and the Palimpsestic Memory of Empire
Delaney (Del) Holton, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Photographs
• Phantoms from the Forbidden City: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Exhibition of Chinese Portraiture in 1942–3
Junyao He, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Asian Art

Friday, May 22
10:30 am–12:30 pm
Precious Materials: From Process to Perception
• Shaping Amber: Crafting pre-Roman Jewels from Fossilized Resin
Carlotta Trevisanello, Chester Dale Fellow, Department of Greek and Roman Art
• Tortoiseshell in The Costume Institute Collection
Katherine Shark, Polaire Weissman Fund Conservation Fellow, The Costume Institute
• A Study in Metal Thread: Art, Science, and Conservation
Anya Andreeva, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservation Fellow, Department of Textile Conservation
• Gilded Exquisiteness: The Use of Gold in Ilkhanid Art and Ghazan Khan’s Monetary Reforms
Xinyu Liang, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Islamic Art

4–5:30 pm
Stone-Cold Painting: Ancient Writing Techniques
Helen Wong, Bothmer Fellow, Department of Greek and Roman Art
Make your mark as an ancient Alexandrian craftsperson or scribe. Experiment with writing your name in Greek using facsimiles of ancient inks on stone and ceramic tile, then visit the nearby Greek and Roman galleries to see examples from the collection.

6–7:30 pm
Zari: The Lustrous Thread
Matthew Raj Webb, Polaire Weissman Fund Fellow, The Costume Institute
Nikita Shah, Textile artist
Learn the ancient technique of Zari (metallic thread) embroidery and explore its journey from the Indian subcontinent to Western fashion houses such as Schiaparelli and McQueen. Trace how craft techniques migrate across centuries and continents, examining how a single thread has endured as a marker of luxury—and what its circulation reveals about the ways we value makers across cultures.