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From noon on April 27 to midnight on April 28, the Department of the History of Art and Architecture participated in the 2016 UMassGives fundraising campaign. With the help of nine recent alumni ambassadors (Ewa Matyczyk, Teresa Hunter, Sarah Horowitz, Alison Cook, Jake Liverman, Sarah Horowitz, Danielle Gagne, Jaime Pagana, and Kendra Weisbin), we raised over $2000 in thirty-six hours!

The tagline of UMassGives is that everyone has a reason to give. In order to raise interest in the campaign, we reached out to our current students for stories about how the department or art history in general affected their lives. We received an incredible response, ranging from how art history can help sisters bond to examples of the department's committment to helping graduate students. It was incredible to see the many ways in which our students interact with the department and what they learn here at UMass Amherst.

"During my time in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, I have taken classes with the most supportive group of professors at UMass. My professors encourage me to pursue topics that interest me and have facilitated in my creating the most critically engaging and enjoyable projects I have ever completed in my undergraduate career. Professor Nancy Noble in particular has been extremely committed to my academic studies since the summer of 2015 when I started an independent study researching the 20th American artist Paul Cadmus which evolved into a research paper I wrote in the Fall 2015 and presented at the UMass Graduate History Conference a few weeks ago. Additionally, after accepting a Summer 2016 internship position at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC, the DHA&A has awarded me a generous scholarship to ensure that I can complete the internship with financial security."
-Maria Bastos-Stanek, Junior Art History and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Major

"I have found myself in almost every state in the country over the past few years looking for my next step in life. I finally found it in my own backyard at the University of Massachusetts’ art history program. It was a new home and with support from our undergraduate art history head Nancy Noble the transition for me was exactly what a 24-year-old trying to return to school needed. I received support, but also direction, not towards the easiest path, but to the most beneficial for my personal development. The great leadership in this program is coupled with great teachers that make the degree just that much more substantive. To name a few who have personally helped me on my journey there is Timothy Rohan, Laetitia La Follette, Gülru Çakmak, and Jasper Van Putten. The great part of this list is I know it will only grow as my education continues here."
- Charles Holt, Art History Major

"The Department of the History of Art and Architecture reeled me in with its amazing opportunities to learn outside the walls of UMass. My favorite part of the Art History classes I’ve taken so far have to be the museum trips that encapsulate the class and make it come alive. UMass and DHA&A does an astounding job incorporating the art residing in the galleries of colleges like Mount Holyoke and Amherst College. Visiting The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and the Mead Art Museum allowed me to enjoy local, historically significant and beautiful art, while still appreciating UMass’ ability to give me the opportunity."
- Alexis Sprowl, Economics Major

"My first semester of college, I took an art history course and a Greek civilization course, both of which I was convinced I would fail. History was not my favorite subject, and it was certainly not one I usually excelled in. But luckily for me, the two related to each other much more than I thought. Things I learned in art history related back to what I was learning in Greek civilizations and that helped me to understand the material better, it made studying much easier, and I did really well on my exams in both. The art we learned about was from the same time and place of the civilizations we learned about in Greek, and it is safe to say because of what I learned in that art history class, I never would have passed Greek civilizations."
- Aleesa Asfoura, Architecture Major

"One of my most memorable art experiences was a field trip to the MET Art Museum in NYC, organized by a history of photography course I was auditing at my local community college. Nothing could have prepared me for the moment when I walked into the enormous building, filled with floors and floors of art from almost every era imaginable. I couldn't believe that a single building could house that much artwork, much less one so close to home! In the few hours I spent there, it was literally impossible for me to explore every room and see every collection on display - I think it would have taken me at least a week to experience all that the museum had to offer. At that time, I had not yet traveled to Europe, but to me, the MET was the next best thing!"
- Mary Moser, Computer Science Major

"After completing my B.A. in Indiana, I knew that I wanted to move to the east coast to start making connections in the art world. During my first year in the graduate program at UMass Amherst, I've already taken three class trips to New York City to speak with museum and gallery professionals. This fall, my colleagues organized a symposium where Dr. Anne Umland gave a keynote lecture, and I was lucky enough to spend over an hour talking with her about her experience as a curator of Painting and Sculpture at the MoMA. Besides providing me with excellent connections, UMass Amherst has also introduced me to knowledgeable, personable professors who are always challenging me as a scholar and rooting for me to succeed."
- Emily Bumgardner, MA candidate in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture

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