Watch the recordings of Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
On May 7–9, 2025, the cohort of 2024–2025 Smithsonian American Art Museum Fellows presented a thought-provoking series of talks that spanned a range of topics, time periods, media, and messages. This multi-afternoon program offered a unique opportunity to hear from a new generation of scholars delving into the Smithsonian’s collections and archives to uncover fresh perspectives on American art. The lectures were held in person, in McEvoy Auditorium, and online.
Wednesday, May 7
Session I: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Karen Lemmey, Lucy S. Rhame Curator of Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Joseph Mizhakiiyaasige Zordan, Terra Foundation for American Art Predoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
“Thresholds of Forgetting: The Deerfield Door, Memory, and Materiality in Colonial Massachusetts”
- Elizabeth Keto, Joe and Wanda Corn Predoctoral Fellow, Yale University
“Written in Clay: Grave Markers in Reconstruction-Era Edgefield" - Michelle Donnelly, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, Yale University
“Grounds of Removal: Matsusaburo ‘George’ Hibi's Incarceration Camp Prints”
Session II: 3:15–5 p.m. ET
Moderated by Eleanor Jones Harvey, senior curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Brandon O. Scott, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“‘And a Long Sand Road’: Longleaf Pine and the Landscape of Abundance”
- Marcelo Gabriel Yáñez, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow (at the Archives of American Art), Stanford University
“The Disappearance of Landscape: Artists on Fire Island, 1937–1983”
- Olivia Armandroff, George Gurney Predoctoral Fellow and Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California
“‘After Devastation, Something Positive Will Come’: Toshiko Takaezu's Lava Forest and Cyclical Processes of Regeneration”
Thursday, May 8
Session III: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Margot Yale, Wyeth Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California
“‘The Poetry of the Shipyards’: Emmy Lou Packard and Social Unity on the Wartime Shop Floor”
- Isaiah Bertagnolli, Douglass Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh
“The Artist’s Arsenal: How Barbara Donachy Made the Arms Race Tangible”
- Sarah Myers, Patricia and Phillip Frost Predoctoral Fellow, Stony Brook University
“‘If There is No Dancing at the Revolution’: Carnival Knowledge and The Stakes of Feminist Art Activism in the 1980s”
Session IV: 3:15–4:30 p.m. ET
Moderated by Robin Veder, executive editor of American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Julia Hamer-Light, SAAM Predoctoral Fellow in American Craft, University of Delaware
“‘Made To Be Given’: Generosity as Methodology in Arthur Amiotte’s Collaborations”
- Rachel M. Tang, Betsy James Wyeth Predoctoral Fellow in Native American Art, Harvard University
“Please, after you: Lessons in Reciprocity and Archival Practice from Shan Goshorn”
Friday, May 9
Session V: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Lindsay Harris, head of Research and Scholars Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Renée Brown, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow (joint SAAM and the Archives of American Art), Boston University
“Culture in the Details: Paul Vanderbilt and the Photographic Epistemology of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information File”
- Maeve Hogan, SAAM Predoctoral Fellow in American Craft and Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellow, University of Wisconsin–Madison
“Between Utility and Art: Recovering Fiber-Based Craft Histories of the 1950s and 1960s”
- Jeannette Martinez, Terra Foundation for American Art Predoctoral Fellow, University of New Mexico
“Hidden in Plain Sight: The Central American Presence in American Archives”
Session VI: 3:15–5 p.m. ET
Moderated by Melissa Ho, curator of twentieth-century art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Megan Baker, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, University of Delaware
“Copley’s Copies: Pastel, Kinship, and the Multiplication of Colonial Identity”
- Ashley Duffey, William H. Truettner Predoctoral Fellow and Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellow, University of Minnesota
“Bureaucratic Labors: Adoption's Social Work Photographies”
- Emma Oslé, Terra Foundation for American Art Predoctoral Fellow and Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellow, Rutgers University
“Cuadros de Familia: Life and Loss in Contemporary Latinx Art”
Image/Credit: SAAM 2024–2025 Fellows, courtesy of subjects