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Newsletter 2021: Alumni News
Monday, May 17, 2021
Monday, May 17, 2021
Alumni News

Margaret Squires ’18 MA
I started a PhD program at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, working on a dissertation related to carpets woven in Safavid, Iran.
Michael Pratt ’15 BA
On October 11, I married my longtime partner Brittney Chan (Smith, BA, ’15), who I met at Oxford, where we studied abroad during our junior year. After graduating in 2018 from the Williams College graduate program in the History of Art, I took a job in leadership development for MBA students at the Wharton School in Philadelphia. Once the pandemic struck, I left that position in order to work as a contact tracer for the State of Pennsylvania and to volunteer at COVID-19 testing sites around the city. I still keep up with Siyu Shen (’20 MA), who I also met at Oxford, and can't wait to reunite with her post-vaccine.
Sarah Horowitz ’14 MA
I am now a third year PhD candidate in the history of art and architecture department at Boston University. Despite the trials and tribulations of the pandemic, I successfully passed my qualifying exams at the end of May 2020 via Zoom and am now writing my dissertation prospectus. My dissertation topic stems from my prior MA research on the architecture of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, focusing on a more comprehensive study of postwar American performing arts centers built during the 1960s and early 1970s. Earlier this fall, I spoke with Nancy Noble's undergraduate majors course about careers in museums and pursuing a graduate degree. I always enjoy the opportunity to stay connected with UMass art history faculty, staff, and students and look forward to staying in touch during these unprecedented times.
Sarah Oh ’15 BA
In 2019, Sarah Oh started a new job at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum working in the operations department as planning and logistics administrator. Prior to this new role, Sarah Oh worked as an event manager in the development department at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.
Erin Webb ’08 BA
Erin Webb is director of development at The Advent School in Beacon Hill, a progressive independent school with a social justice mission since January 2020.
Rebecca Hiester ’09 MA
Rebecca Hiester was promoted to director of education and programs at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C.
Elizabeth Beaudoin ’16 MA
I was able to find two part-time curator positions during COVID-19. I am now curator of the Broomfield Depot Museum and the Broomfield Veterans Museum, both in Broomfield, Co. I am using this time when the museums are closed to the public to finish some collections care projects and to develop new exhibits for 2021.
Sofia Pitouli ’13 BA
Sofia Pitouli is a second year PhD student studying Byzantine and Islamic art at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Glenn Tomlinson ’87 MA
The Norton Museum of Art where I work as William Randolph Hearst curator of education reopened on November 20 after an eight-month closure, however, live in-person programming is still some months away. Over the summer, an interdepartmental team established a range of virtual offerings through "Norton from Home" where none existed a year ago. Please visit www.norton.org and let us know what you think! While the conversation about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility was under way at the Norton already, the summer's national calls for action have led to new staff and board committees, and a renewed commitment to addressing social justice at our institution. Through this difficult time, painful cuts and furloughs, as well as a national search for a new director/CEO, the staff has remained so resilient and focused. I feel fortunate to work with such talented people.
Maria Bastos-Stanek ’17 BA
I am a first-year student in the master's program in art history at Tufts University.
Erin Eckhold Sassin ’04 MA
I was awarded tenure at Middlebury College in May of 2020.
Nicole Fletcher ’10 BA
I have been working as the collections manager at the Winnipeg Art Gallery since 2015 and we are slated to open an expansion to the gallery early next year called Qaumajuq. It is exciting to be part of this project highlighting our extensive Inuit art collection and bringing part of it into public view with a glass visible vault.
Ewa Matyczyk ’12 MA
In 2020, Ewa earned her doctorate from Boston University. Her dissertation, “Intervention, Memory, and Community: Public Art and Architecture in Warsaw Since 1970,” was awarded the Keith Morgan Dissertation Prize. Ewa is delighted to also share that she and her husband welcomed their son June to the world in late spring. Since then she has been teaching at Boston University and Northeastern, despite the sleep deprivation of early parenthood. She sends warmest wishes for a bright and hopeful future to the UMass art history community.