Theresa Downing Awarded 2019-20 Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art

The Department of Art History is pleased to announce that Theresa Downing is the recipient of a 2019-20 Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art, which is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.  Theresa is a doctoral candidate in the department and a UMN Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellow and was selected for her promising research in object- and image-based US art history.  Theresa’s dissertation, “Traces: A Transhistorical Study of Fiber Ecologies in Contemporary Art,” innovatively employs textile conservation terminology referring to fiber condition—stain, fold, infestation, and accretion—as a new methodology for writing fiber art histories.  Her project investigates the material properties and emotional power of fiber in contemporary artworks by North American artists from the 1990s to the present.  For more information, please visit the ACLS website: https://www.acls.org/ACLS-News/ACLS-News/April-2019/2019-Luce-ACLS-Dissertation-Fellows-in-American-Art