The 2022 International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) Advocacy Seed grant was awarded to Diane Wolfthal to support efforts to build an educational program focused on introducing global medieval art to traditionally underserved populations at the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas. The grant will fund a visit by 30-40 students to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil Collection with visits to their medieval collections to be led by Diane Wolfthal, professor emerita from Rice University, and two Rice doctoral students, Eilis Coughlin and Dasol Kim. Dr. Paul Davis, curator of collections, will speak to them about the outstanding collection of medieval African art at the Menil Collection. Rachel Mohl, curator at the MFAH and PhD candidate on the Museum Professionals track at Rice University, will speak to them about the museum’s art of Spain and Latin America. The short-term aim of the grant is to introduce this group of students to medieval art in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Issues explored will include the art’s intellectual complexity as well as its visual power and the cultural (often ideological) work that art performed in different societies.
-International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA)
Diane Wolfthal specializes in late medieval and early modern European art. Her interests include feminist and gender studies, Jewish Studies, the history of sexuality, technical art history, and the study of the intersection of money, values, and culture.