Dr. Jill Mollenhauer and Dr. Jessica Weiss | Department of Art
Archival and Collections-Based Research in New York City and Washington D.C.
Over the week of Spring Break in 2024, Professors Jill Mollenhauer and Jessica Weiss traveled with five student research assistants—Krista Allen, Michelle Burns, Nova Kor, Rebekah Sokol, and Jolie Voss—to New York and Washington, D.C. to conduct “on the ground” art historical research. Nova and Krista worked with Dr. Mollenhauer to conduct collections-based research on portable works of Olmec art. Artworks were documented through a combination of photography and three-dimensional modeling via photogrammetry app (Polycam). Michelle, Rebekah, and Jolie worked with Dr. Weiss to conduct iconographic research related to imagery in a fifteenth-century European illuminated manuscript.
The group first visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Dr. Mollenhauer and her team documented the 14 relevant works in their collection. Dr. Weiss and her team used the holdings of the Thomas J. Watson Library to review secondary literature. The Olmec researchers then moved to Washington, D.C. to visit the National Anthropological Archives of the Smithsonian, where they recorded a variety of artworks and archaeological artifacts, in addition to conducting archival research among the historical document holdings. The team finished up their research with a visit to the museum at Dumbarton Oaks, where they documented an additional 16 works of art. The manuscript researchers remained in New York where they studied comparative manuscript illuminations at The Morgan Library and Museum and traveled to the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University to evaluate possible iconographic matches to the images under investigation.
This research will be used to support the writing of various scholarly and teaching resources. Professor Mollenhauer also hopes to eventually create an online repository of three-dimensional models of Olmec art for public use.
Hear from our Students
“The opportunity to go on a research trip in NYC and Washington DC has had a significant impact on the trajectory of my career aspirations and life goals as I was able to connect with individuals working in collections management in a variety of settings. Due to the conversations that I had with these professionals during the trip, I am now planning on applying to graduate programs for Museum Studies in collections management at schools across the east coast. Thus, alongside the opportunity to assist Dr. Mollenhauer with her research, seeing exhibitions in renown museums, and walking through the beautiful garden at Dumbarton Oaks, this trip has helped me network with professionals in my desired field which has changed my life for the better.” -Krista Allen
MSU Denver students participate in the Archival and Collections-Based Research in New York City and Washington D.C.
