Alison Reilly

Phd in a Moment - Alison Reilly | English | Questionnaire | August 27, 2019

Alison Reilly is a doctoral student in the Department of Art History in the College of Fine Arts at FSU who studies twentieth-century art, giving particular attention to transatlantic exchange in American curatorial history. Her research and teaching focus on exhibition design, museum history, the role of government-sponsored art in World War II, and the institutionalization of modern art in the United States. Alison’s dissertation explores curatorial history in the twentieth century through the lens of James Johnson Sweeney’s career.

Earlier this year, Alison worked as the Exhibition Designer for the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience’s display “Artistic Expression Through Conflict: The Use of Art in World War II.” During her studies at Florida State University, she was awarded the Patricia Rose Teaching Fellowship and the Penelope Mason Fellowship for Dissertation Research. She has presented her research at the College Art Association’s Annual Conference (CAA) and the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC). Alison received her MA from the University of Miami and her BA from Tulane University.

Dissertation Title: “Redirecting the Modern Museum: James Johnson Sweeney’s Exhibition Practices in Twentieth-Century America”


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