Through the Museum Research Consortium (MRC), MoMA mentors the next generation of art historians and curators.
About
The Museum Research Consortium (MRC) is a partnership between The Museum of Modern Art and five regional graduate art history programs—Columbia University; The Graduate Center, City University of New York; the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Princeton University; and Yale University—funded through a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The MRC provides a framework for the Museum’s participation in the training and education of the next generation of art historians and curators.
The Museum Research Consortium hosts one MRC Fellow from each participating program annually to work with an experienced curator on scholarly curatorial projects at the Museum. The MRC also organizes semiannual Study Sessions around key holdings in MoMA’s collection. These sessions generate new approaches to and ideas about works in the collection by providing greater access to these objects for a community of art historians, while also developing strong ties across the Consortium community.
Director and Steering Committee
The Museum Research Consortium is directed by Leah Dickerman, The Marlene Hess Curator of Painting and Sculpture, and guided by a steering committee that also includes Peter Reed, Senior Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, MoMA, and representatives from the five partner programs:
Columbia University
Branden Joseph, the Frank Gallipolli Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Director of Art Humanities
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Emily Braun, Distinguished Professor of Twentieth-Century European and American Art
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Thomas E. Crow, the Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art and Associate Provost of the Arts at NYU
Princeton University
Hal Foster, the Townsend Martin Class of 1917 Professor of Art and Archaeology
Yale University
Kobena Mercer, Professor, History of Art and African American Studies
Fellows
The MRC Fellows program is at the core of the Museum Research Consortium initiative. As part of the program, one PhD candidate from each of the five partner institutions is awarded a fellowship, and each is assigned to work full-time with a MoMA curator on a scholarly curatorial project. In addition to gaining hands-on experience in museum practice and receiving mentoring from established curators, fellows also benefit from professional development programs, as well as opportunities to network with colleagues in other Consortium-member graduate programs.
2016–17 MRC Fellows
The 2016–17 MRC Fellows are Jessica Bell Brown, Elizabeth Gollnick, Ashley James, Abigail Lapin Dardashti, and Matthew Worsnick.
Jessica Bell Brown is a PhD candidate at Princeton University. At MoMA, Jessica works with Leah Dickerman, The Marlene Hess Curator of Painting and Sculpture.
Elizabeth Gollnick is a PhD candidate at Columbia University. Beth is based in the Department of Media and Performance Art during her year as a fellow, and is working with chief curator Stuart Comer.
Ashley James is a PhD candidate at Yale University. During her fellowship year, Ashley is working with curator David Platzker and associate curator Esther Adler in the Department of Drawings and Prints.
Abigail Lapin Dardashti is a PhD candidate at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. While at MoMA, Abigail is based in the Department of Photography, where she works with curator Sarah Meister.
Matthew Worsnick is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. At MoMA, Matt works with Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design.
2015–16 MRC Fellows
The 2015–16 MRC Fellows were Swagato Chakravorty (Yale/Fellow in Media and Performance Art), Natalie Dupêcher (Princeton/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture), Elizabeth Hawley (Graduate Center/Fellow in Architecture and Design), Nomaduma Masilela (Columbia/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture), and Antonia Pocock (IFA/Fellow in Drawings and Prints).
2014–15 MRC Fellows
The 2014–15 MRC Fellows were Rebecca Lowery (IFA/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture), Kristin Poor (Princeton/Fellow in Photography), Lauren Rosati (Graduate Center/Fellow in Photography), Sam Sackeroff (Yale/Fellow in Drawings and Prints), and Rachel Silveri (Columbia/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture).
2013–14 MRC Fellows
The 2013–14 MRC Fellows were Andrew Cappetta (Graduate Center/Fellow in Drawings and Prints), Kirsty Dootson (Yale/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture), Frances Jacobus-Parker (Princeton/Fellow in Painting and Sculpture), Rachel Kaplan (IFA/Fellow in Photography), and Stephanie O’Rourke (Columbia/Fellow in Drawings and Prints).
Study Sessions
The MRC Study Sessions are incubators for new ideas and approaches to key holdings in the Museum’s collection. The sessions are a collaborative endeavor, intended to provide greater access to objects in the collection for a community of art historians, while also developing strong ties across the Consortium. Study session participants include MoMA curators and conservators, the current class of MRC Fellows, faculty members and graduate students from each of the five university partners, and invited guest scholars. The 2017 Study Sessions considered MoMA’s history of collecting and exhibiting performance and performance-based work. Previous sessions focused on work by Jean Dubuffet (2014), on Picasso’s sculpture (2015), and on work by African-American artists (2016).
Participating in the MRC
The MRC Fellows and the Study Sessions programs aim to build a broad research community between MoMA and academic colleagues. Participation in the MRC is open to doctoral students in the Consortium partner programs.
The MRC Fellows program offers an annual fellowship to one PhD candidate from each of the five partner institutions. While the program does not support dissertation or independent research, it does provide a structure for participating in scholarly research projects within the Museum with mentoring from an experienced curator. Students interested in either academic or museum careers are welcome to apply. Each partner program coordinates the nomination process for its own proposed candidates for the fellowship. The nomination period for 2017–18 Fellows is closed, but you can view the call for applications.
The Study Sessions are a collaborative endeavor, and include MoMA curators and conservators, the current class of MRC Fellows, faculty members and graduate students from each of the five university partners, and guest scholars. Each partner program nominates three graduate student participants for the sessions. Interested individuals should contact their departments for more information about applying for either the Fellows or the Study Sessions programs.
Dossiers
The Museum Research Consortium Dossiers are a series of digital publications growing out of the Study Sessions that feature the research produced by the MRC Fellows and the graduate student participants as part of the sessions.
MRC Dossier 1: The Work of Jean Dubuffet
With texts by Rachel Boate (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University), Maibritt Borgen (Yale University), Tom Campbell (Columbia University), Andrew Cappetta (2013–14 MRC Fellow/The Graduate Center, City University of New York), Erica DiBenedetto (Princeton University), Kirsty Dootson (2013–14 MRC Fellow/Yale), Beth Gollnick (Columbia), Christopher Green (Graduate Center), Charlotte Healy (Institute of Fine Arts), Niels Henriksen (Princeton), Frances Jacobus-Parker (2013–14 MRC Fellow/Princeton), Rachel Kaplan (2013–14 MRC Fellow/Institute of Fine Arts), Christina McCollum (Graduate Center), Stephanie O’Rourke (2013–14 MRC Fellow/Columbia), Jonathan Patkowski (Graduate Center), AnnMarie Perl (Institute of Fine Arts), Daniel Spaulding (Yale), Phil Taylor (Princeton), and Matthew Teti (Columbia).
MRC Dossier 2: Picasso’s Sculpture
With texts by Julia Bozer (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University), Benjamin Clifford (Institute of Fine Arts), Nicole Demby (Yale University), Natalie Dupêcher (Princeton University), Courtney Fiske (Columbia University), Matilde Guidelli-Guidi (The Graduate Center, City University of New York), Joseph Henry (Graduate Center), Lucy Hunter (Yale), Marci Kwon (Institute of Fine Arts), Ashley Lazevnick (Princeton), Rebecca Lowery (2014–15 MRC Fellow/Institute of Fine Arts), Leah Pires (Columbia), Kristin Poor (2014–15 MRC Fellow/Princeton), Amy Raffel (Graduate Center), Lauren Rosati (2014–15 MRC Fellow/Graduate Center), Sam Sackeroff (2014–15 MRC Fellow/Yale), Rachel Silveri (2014–15 MRC Fellow/Columbia), Alex Weintraub (Columbia), Caitlin Woolsey (Yale), and Hannah Yohalem (Princeton)
MRC Dossier 3: Race and the Museum
With texts by Caitlin Beach (Columbia University), Jessica Bell Brown (Princeton University), Swagato Chakravorty (2015–16 MRC Fellow/Yale University), Natalie Dupêcher (2015–16 MRC Fellow/Princeton), Yasmine Espert (Columbia University), Linda Green (Institute of Fine Arts), Maya Harakawa (The Graduate Center, City University of New York), Elizabeth Hawley (2015–16 MRC Fellow/Graduate Center), Ashley James (Yale), Perrin Lathrop (Princeton), Debra Lennard (Graduate Center), Nomaduma Masilela (2015–16 MRC Fellow/Columbia), Desiree Mitton (Institute of Fine Arts), Sasha Nicholas (Graduate Center), Antonia Pocock (2015–16 MRC Fellow/Institute of Fine Arts), Abbe Schriber (Columbia), Claire Schwartz (Yale), Kimia Shahi (Princeton), and Juanita Solano (Institute of Fine Arts), and Jenny Tang (Yale).
Images, from top: Photo: Amanda Kirkpatrick. 2016–17 Fellows. Left to right: Ashley James, Elizabeth Gollnick, Matthew Worsnick, Jessica Bell Brown, and Abigail Lapin Dardashti. Photo: Amanda Kirkpatrick. 2015-16 Fellows. Left to right: Natalie Dupêcher, Nomaduma Masilela, Antonia Pocock, Elizabeth Hawley, and Swagato Chakravorty. Photo: Marcin J. Muchalski, Diamond Shot Studio. 2014-2015 Fellows. Left to right: Rachel Silveri, Kristin Poor, Lauren Rosati, Rebecca Lowery, and Sam Sackeroff. Photo: Marcin J. Muchalski, Diamond Shot Studio. 2013-2014 Fellows. Left to right: Kirsty Dootson, Rachel Kaplan, Stephanie O’Rourke, Andrew Cappetta, and Frances Jacobus-Parker. Photo: Marcin J. Muchalski, Diamond Shot Studio.