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2026 Art & Art History Newsletter
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Hello from the Department of Art & Art History! Happy October! I'm John Lee, Department Chair, and I'm excited to share our 2026 Newsletter. We have an active autumn underway with several events in the works for this semester! We hope that you can all join us for Homecoming events happening over the 22nd to 25th of this month!
A Warm Welcome to Our New Faculty
We’re delighted to welcome Kristen Peyton, Christian Brahe, Erin Giffin, and Kexin Ma to the Department of Art & Art History! Each brings a unique perspective, creative practice, and area of expertise to our department, and we’re excited to have them joining our classrooms, studios, galleries, and conversations this year. We’re looking forward to all the new ideas, collaborations, and creative energy they’ll bring to the AAH community!
The department hosts its annual Homecoming Reception on Saturday, October 24th from 10:00am to 12:00pm, in the Andrews Hall foyer. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet alumni, students, and faculty. The Andrews Gallery will be open and plenty of current student art will be on view. All are welcome, so please drop by for conversation and light refreshments!
As we do every year, the department sponsored a Fall bus trip to Washington, D.C., attended by more than one hundred students and faculty members. Attendees visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to see the museum's permanent collection and its current exhibitions, including Celebrating American Art and Nocturnes.
In the Andrews Gallery, honors students Caroline Cha and Hannah Neiman organized their two person exhibition Plasticity: Process Under Uncertainty. The Honors Thesis Exhibition featured the dedicated work by Caroline and Hannah over the course of their senior year.
The annual Non-Majors Exhibition showcased original work by William & Mary students who engaged with Studio Art and Art History beyond their primary fields of study, celebrating the diverse creative interests and perspectives of students from across the university.
The Andrews Gallery also presented Jonas Mekas- Still Beautiful in My Memory, an exhibition of works by pioneering avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas (1922–2019). Organized in collaboration with The Jonas Mekas Estate, Deborah Colton Gallery, OUTPOST NYC DCG, and Lee Matney Gallery, the exhibition brought together Mekas’s rarely exhibited framed still images, known as the “Frozen Frames,” with a continuous screening of his five-hour film As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000). Together, the works explored themes of fragmentation, memory, displacement, and the poetic construction of a life through cinema.
Currently on view in the Andrews Gallery is Christian Brahe: Drawings, featuring work by William & Mary Assistant Teaching Professor of Art Christian Brahe. The exhibition, on view through October 9, highlights Brahe’s drawing practice and his ongoing exploration of the medium.
On February 26, 2026, the Department of Art & Art History hosted artist James Sullivan for a 
lecture exploring the question, “What does it mean for a sculpture to think?” Sullivan discussed his work in sculpture, drawing, and photography, considering how materiality shapes the sensations and experiences that form evokes. The lecture complemented Thinking Sculpture | Sculpture Thinking, an exhibition curated by William & Mary Professor of Art Elizabeth Mead and featuring Sullivan’s sculpture, drawings, and prints at the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The exhibition also served as a laboratory for Mead and Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Jennifer Stevens’s interdisciplinary course, Neuroaesthetics: The Artist and the Mind, which brought art and science together to explore creativity and cognition.
On March 26, 2026, the Department of Art & Art History welcomed distinguished art historian Alan Wallach for a lecture on A New History of the Hudson River School. Wallach explored the remarkable popularity of the Hudson River School from the 1840s through the 1870s, examining the diverse landscapes and allegorical works of artists including Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Asher B. Durand, and Frederick Kensett. The lecture considered why these works resonated with both elite patrons and popular audiences, as well as the dramatic shift in artistic tastes that led to the school’s decline following the Civil War.
Student Spotlight:
Thanks to a generous gift from alumna Joan Ranzini (Studio Art, '83), a new scholarship has been established for Studio Art majors in painting. This year's recipient of the Joan Ranzini Scholarship is Katelyn Workman, Class of 2027. Katelyn was also the recipient an honors fellowship for Summer 2026. This fellowship allowed Katelyn to complete an artist residency at the Mount Gretna School of Art. Congratulations, Katelyn!
Looking ahead:
The Muscarelle Museum of Art will host Lewis Cohen: Forms of Inquiry, a memorial exhibition honoring the life and work of artist and educator Lewis Cohen. The exhibition will be on view through January 3, 2027. There will be an open reception, "Celebration of Life", taking place at the Muscarelle on October 17.
Art History majors in The Curatorial Project (ARTH 331) will present a curated exhibition titled Visions of the West at the Muscarelle Museum of Art. With an opening reception on November 13, 2026, the exhibition runs until February 21, 2027.
Álvaro Enciso: Remembering Those Who Did Not Arrive On November 17, the Andrews Gallery will present an exhibition featuring selected works by artist Álvaro Enciso, whose deeply moving practice memorializes migrants who have died while journeying north across the U.S.–Mexico border. Through his work, Enciso creates individual memorials that honor those who lost their lives, giving presence and dignity to people whose stories might otherwise remain unknown. The exhibition invites viewers to consider memory, loss, migration, and the human stories behind the ongoing border crisis. Learn more about Enciso and his memorial work: Alvara Enciso- Artist Remembers Migrants Who Died on Their Journey North.
Faculty News
Congratulations to Christian Brahe, who was hired last spring as a new full-time Teaching Professor in Studio Art! We are very lucky as a department to have Christian as one of our primary instructors for the Drawing and Color courses. Christian also currently has an exhibition of his drawings on display in Andrews Gallery. His show will close the first week of October, but the opening reception was very well attended. During the reception, Christian gave an engaging gallery talk on the drawings in the show.
Alyssa Quintanilla has been busy both in print and behind the scenes. She co-edited the 2026 special issue of Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Processing Forms: Political Aesthetics and the Materiality of the United States-Mexico Border, which also features her research on digital memorials and the borderlands. She is currently overseeing a student curatorial project bringing together works from the Muscarelle Museum of Art and William & Mary’s Special Collections Research Center.
This year, Sibel Zandi-Sayek completed a co-edited volume, now in production, and began developing a new monograph, presenting related research in two international venues: “Teaching by the Ruins: From Missionary Education to Nationhood” at the Society of Architectural Historians’ 79th Annual International Conference, Mexico City, and in an invited talk, “Smyrna’s Paradise: Heritage-Making in Multiethnic Landscape,” at a symposium organized by the Eleonora Schamberger Foundation and the German Archeological Institute in Samos, Greece. She also published an exhibition review on the Hrant Dink Site of Memory, Istanbul, in the International Journal of Islamic Architecture. She was elected as one of six board members of the Society of Architectural Historians in its first member-driven election and named William & Mary’s Class of 2029 Professor.
Nikki Santiago continued an exciting year of artistic research and exhibition activity in 2025–2026. In 2025, she presented solo exhibitions at First Street Gallery in New York City and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and was featured in Where We Meet, a juried group exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA). Her ongoing creative research was also supported by a William & Mary Faculty Research Grant. In 2026, Nikki’s work was featured in the Made in VA Biennial at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach and Doors and Windows at There Gallery in New York City. She was also honored with the University Professor of Research Excellence Award, recognizing her contributions to research and creative scholarship.
Liz Moran, Associate Chair of the Department of Art & Art History, will present “From Root to Ritual: Indigenous Foodways, Spiritual Practices, and Cultural Continuities in the Caribbean” as part of the Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Studies Symposium. Her presentation explores the connections between Indigenous foodways, spiritual practices, and cultural traditions in the Caribbean, highlighting the enduring relationships between food, ritual, and cultural memory.
Erin Giffin, has had an active year of research, publication, and editorial work focused on early modern art and architecture. Earlier this year, she published a review of Stephanie Leitch’s Early Modern Print Media and the Art of Observation: Training the Literate Eye in Renaissance Quarterly. Her article, “The Temporal and Spatial Layers Activating the Santa Casa di Loreto,” will appear in Opus Incertum in December 2026, along with two forthcoming reviews in Renaissance Quarterly and Early Modern Women. Over the summer, Erin participated in the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School, studying the printing press in Spanish America. She also continues her editorial work as a subject editor for the Sculpture Journal, where she is co-editing a forthcoming issue on Algorithmic Sculpture.
Elizabeth Mead has had an exciting year of exhibitions, research, and engagement nationally and internationally. She was selected for the American Academy in Rome Visiting Artist Scholar Program and presented solo exhibitions at the Dana L. Wiley Gallery and Wright State University’s Robert and Elaine Stein Gallery in Dayton, Ohio, where she will also give an artist talk. Her work was also featured in group exhibitions at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and The Gallery at Atlantic Wharf in Boston. Mead shared her research through invited talks at the Muscarelle Museum of Art and University College London, and at the Muscarelle she served as curator of Thinking Sculpture: Sculpture Thinking. Closer to home, her work was added to the CoStar Group collection in Arlington, and she continues her interdisciplinary research at William & Mary as co-facilitator of the Global Research Institute Pathfinder project “Untitled: Time.”
In 2026, John Lee participated in two group exhibitions with the Zeuxis Still Life Association: 'Doors and Windows' and 'The Oranges of Seville'. John Lee also had a solo exhibition of his paintings at Gallery 360 in Roanoke last spring, and will be in an exhibition titled 'To Paint Things Present' this October with Kristen Peyton (WM alum and current Studio Art Professor) at the Petersburg Art Alliance in Petersburg, VA. Next February 2027, John Lee will have a solo exhibition titled "Beyond Recognition" at UNC Greensboro.
Brian Kreydatus print 13th birthday was exhibited in the 2026 Taiwan Internation Print Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung City, Taiwan
Alan Braddock concluded his three-year term as department chair at the end of June. As chair, he advocated for improved department facilities, organized a symposium on art conservation, convened a committee to revise and update department policies and procedures, and worked with staff to spruce up Andrews Hall spaces, among other activities. Though his teaching responsibilities were reduced as chair, he maintained an active research program. During the past year, he gave four invited lectures — including a keynote talk at the University of California Irvine — and published invited, peer-reviewed articles in books of essays with three different European presses: DeGruyter Brill, Wetlands Books, and Leuven University Press. During the 2026-27 academic year, Prof. Braddock is on a scheduled research leave, developing a new monograph about American art and the empire of meat.
Cristina Stancioiu spent her spring research leave exploring the intersection of art and cultural identity across Eastern Europe. Her archival and field investigations took her through Romania, Greece, and the Balkans as she lays the groundwork for her next book. Meanwhile, her study “Dressing Beyond Byzantium: Negotiating Identity Through Local and Imported Fashion” was published in Routledge’s Byzantine Dress: A Guide—the first edited volume dedicated entirely to the subject.
This summer, Kexin Ma shared her research at two international conferences. In June, she participated in the roundtable “Reflecting on Periodization” as part of the CEMS Colloquium on “Periodizing the Early/Modern,” hosted by the Center for Early Modern Studies at King’s College London. The following month, she traveled to Venice, Italy, for the 26th biennial conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies, where she presented “‘Diagnosing’ Art: Medical Practitioners & Their Chinese Art Collections,” exploring physicians as collectors of Chinese art in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
More Highlights of the Past Year
Our Art & Art History Graduation Ceremony was held on Saturday, May 16, celebrating the accomplishments of our graduating majors in the Class of 2026. Families, friends, and faculty gathered to recognize the many achievements of our seniors, including departmental and Latin honors, numerous scholarships and awards, and inductions into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. We are incredibly proud of our graduates and wish the Class of 2026 all the best as they embark on their next adventures!
Staff News
In August, the department welcomed Jessie Thomas as the new Art & Art History Department Administrator. Jessie has been part of the William & Mary community and is excited to now call Art & Art History home. When she’s not keeping things organized in the office, you can usually find her spending time with her two kids, keeping up with her dogs, exploring somewhere new, or enjoying a good cup of coffee. Jessie is looking forward to getting to know the faculty, staff, and students of the department and discovering all the creative and exciting things happening in Art & Art History!
Christopher Wagner, Instructional Technician for the Department has in the past year been exhibited at the Charles Taylor Visual Arts Center, Bruce Gallery at Penn West University, and at the Rappahannock Art Center. He also was awarded a Green Fee Grant to support the building of a wood curing kiln to provide materials for students from downed trees on campus in collaboration with the Virginia Forestry Service and the William & Mary Grounds Department. A life size carved bison sculpture of his was also purchased for Dickinson College.
Looking Ahead to Spring 2027
New Course for Spring 2027: ARTH 330 — Collecting Asian Art
Taught by Kexin Ma
This spring, the Department of Art & Art History welcomes a new course exploring the fascinating and complex history of collecting Asian art. Beginning with early modern cabinets of curiosities and continuing through the private collecting boom of the 19th and 20th centuries, ARTH 330 examines how collectors, dealers, curators, scholars, and artists helped shape collections and the very category of “Asian art.” Through case studies ranging from ceramics, paintings, and prints to religious sculptures and sacred manuscripts, students will follow objects across time and place, considering how their meanings shifted as they moved from their places of origin into private collections, auction houses, and museums.
Our Very Own Department Chair, John Lee, on View in Petersburg!
Our very own department chair, John Lee, is hitting the gallery scene this fall! Lee is featured alongside artist Kristen Peyton in a new exhibition opening October 9 at the Petersburg Area Art League in downtown Petersburg. fThe exhibition includes six of Lee’s paintings, including a striking new large-scale work he has spent more than two years developing. Peyton brings approximately 30 new works to the exhibition, while artist Jessie Coles adds vibrant abstract works incorporating collage, fabric, geometric forms, and bold color. Set in a historic building in the heart of downtown Petersburg, the exhibition makes a great excuse for an afternoon of art, architecture, restaurants, and antique-shop wandering. If you find yourself heading south of Richmond this fall, be sure to stop in and see what our department chair has been creating!
Please watch for more announcements as we prepare for spring semester. We eagerly anticipate annual events including the Studio Art Senior Capstone Exhibition, the Art History Senior Research Colloquium, and more.
Please stay in touch by sending your updates and contact information to Jessie Thomas at jthomas06@wm.edu. Alumni, if you haven’t already, please connect with us on LinkedIn (Art History Alumni & Studio Art Alumni have their own LinkedIn group accounts). Also, see some of the incredible achievements of our alumni. We are always delighted to hear from our community of alumni and friends. Our current and prospective students are especially eager to learn about your stories and the variety of careers many of you have embarked on, continued with, or retired from. Your enthusiasm and support are part of what makes this an exciting department for our faculty and students.
With all best wishes,
John Lee
Department Chair
Art & Art History
