American Art and Architecture Commons^™

Tradition And Representation In The Work Of Contemporary Native American Art, Florence Romero

Summer Research Showcase

This presentation investigates the origins of contemporary Native American art in the mid-to late twentieth century to gain a deeper understanding of the broader contours of the field of contemporary art by Native Americans, to understand some of the key issues that these artists are interested in, and research the work of select contemporary Indigenous artists. Using comparative analysis of six case studies of contemporary Indigenous artists, this presentation will examine how these artists deal with themes of tradition and modernity and respond to how Native Americans have been misrepresented in the past and how these representations have impacted them …

"The First Web Novel At 30: The Collection And The Creative Process", Robert Arellano, Scott Rettberg

ELO (un)supervised 2026

Summer 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Sunshine '69, recognized as the first novelistic hypertext fiction published on the web. While the full work remains accessible online—an "(un)supervised" preservation achievement in itself—the archive remains split between boxes and memory. This conversation between the work's creator and a major scholar in electronic literature documents both specific preservation challenges and systemic patterns in what the field chooses to preserve.

Topics include: figuring out web-born composition before established methodologies existed; the three decades of technical decisions that kept a 1996 work alive through format obsolescence and server migrations; and what gets lost …

The Art Of Martin Wong, And The Traditions He Drew From, Janie Mendosa

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Martin Wong was a singular figure in the art world, drawing from diverse influences including Pan-Asian traditions, Western modernism, social realism, and the emerging graffiti movement. As a queer artist who lived in urban New York City to San Francisco's Chinatown, he existed on the margins.

From Peril To Perseverance: Dr. Arthur C. Parker And The Seneca Arts Project, Brennan Ciccolone

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Like many Native people, the Haudenosaunee were subjected to culturcide and assimilation using residential schools like the Thomas Indian School in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, in 1925, the Seneca archaeologist Dr. Arthur C. Parker was hired as the director of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Parker used his museum position to uplift and preserve Haudenosaunee arts and culture. This paper focuses on his Seneca Arts Project (1935-1941), which gathered art and artifacts from both ancient and contemporary Haudenosaunee members. This project explores how Parker’s work was used to help revitalize and honor Native …

A Northwest Perspective: A Comprehensive Survey Of Sally Haley's Life And Career, Mary Timbrook

University Honors Theses

Sally Haley is a successful artist who built a long career in the second half of the 20th century as a painter in Portland, Oregon. Her work has been part of several solo and group exhibitions within museums and galleries across the country and she was awarded the Oregon Governor's Award for the Arts in 1989. She is best remembered for her unique still life paintings, frequently painted in egg tempera, which sold immensely well during her lifetime and after. Haley trained at the Yale School of Art in the late 1920s and early 30s, where she learned to paint …

A History Of The Underground Comix Scene: The Seriousness Of An Unserious Genre, Harris Darcie Shugart

Master's Theses

The Underground Comix Scene of the 1960s and 1970s was born out of an age of censorship. The Comics Code Authority, a regulatory body created by the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954, established guidelines requiring publishing houses to self-regulate following a recommendation from the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1953. Comix with an X, for their X-rated nature, represent an emerging counter-culture in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, with an epicenter of San Francisco. These comix and their artists were not interested in obtaining the looming ‘Seal of Approval’ from the …

American Paradise, Virginia Hanusik

Masters Theses

The following is a collection of stories and ideas about the making of our physical and emotional worlds, along with their fracturing, deconstruction, and degradation within the American industrial landscape.  It suggests the value of the unknown and the grace of mistakes, emotional and material friction, and the hiccups that come with learning.

For American Paradise, I’m bringing my interest in landscape extraction, and the people and families within them, to my own autobiography. In this work I turn to where I grew up, the people that brought me there, my connection to manual labor, and the use of specific …

Strata: Portraits Of The Alvarado & The Southwest, Kayla R. Duncan

Masters Theses

History isn't the past; it is a continuing unfolding of the moment, yet we cannot feel time. We see traces of age through patina on copper, the wrinkles on a face from decades of laughter, or the holes in your favorite shirt. Similarly within architecture, what remains: ruins and fragments serve as layers that indicate the passage of time. In what ways are these layers exposed? Hidden? Erased? How do we determine what layers are worthy to be erased, maintained, or glorified as use of a structure or place continues to evolve through time?

The history of Albuquerque spans the …

Household Hegemon: Domestic And Affective Traces Of Us Influence In Mexico In The 1950s And 1990s, Edgar Solórzano

Masters Theses

“Household Hegemon: Domestic and Affective Traces of US Influence in Mexico in the 1950s and 1990s” is a collection of personal essays, historical research, and fictional texts that examine the impact of US-American soft power on Mexican society. This project expands and deepens the research and work developed during my two-year MFA in Sculpture at RISD, evolving material investigations into a comprehensive written and visual record of the 1950s post-WWII boom and the 1990s post-NAFTA transition. These two decades not only represent the most significant in terms of American influence but also the years in which my parents and I …

Embodied River: Deliberate Unbuilding In Post-Dam Landscapes, Travis Kelley

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the possibilities and challenges that legacy hydro-powered dams and mill complexes offer. Through historical and contemporary analysis of New England’s 14,000 dams and of a particular site in Maynard, Massachusetts, the research delves into the factors that make these interventions so challenging. It begins from an assumption rooted in the ethical and environmental imperative to remove or modify legacy dams, which are those built for a purpose that is no longer being utilized, and rejects the existing binary of “remove” vs “preserve,” which is the dominant narrative in the dam removal conversation as it exists in 2026. …

Weathered, Haylee A. Dyess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weathered focuses on themes of change, accumulation, time, and acceptance. Each artwork holds layers of information and experiences that form a unique narrative for all its viewers. The construction of each piece is a symbol of the physical ability it takes to create each painting. After my mobility was hindered due to my medical conditions, a new appreciation for physical health and the world I live in was gained. Striving to pack this sense of appreciation into my work, my method became a way for me to cope with my illness and to enjoy being creative, freely.

My art is …

The Log Cabin | Public Perception And Mediated Reality (1840 – 1980), Aspen M. Regan

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone examines the evolution of the log cabin from 1840 to 1980. At its core, the project questions the legacy of the log cabin from its origins as simply being a traditional dwelling typology to its establishment as a cultural icon or rather, an enduring vessel that established the American Dream and ideals of self-reliance, freedom, and individualism deep within the heart of American culture.

Chapter One situates the log cabin historically and architecturally, defining the popular frontier dwelling as being a single-pen horizontal log constructed cabin. It then explores the cabin’s emergence as a cultural image through political …

A Modern Cabinet Of Curiosities: Patronage, Narrative, And The Foundations Of American Art At Crystal Bridges Museum Of American Art, Amelia Quinlen

School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the 2025 reinstallation of the “Foundations of American Art” galleries at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas as a case study through which to analyze how museum narratives are constructed, negotiated, and presented in the twenty-first century. Drawing on the historiography of museum display, from early modern cabinets of curiosity to nineteenth-century salon-style exhibitions, it argues that galleries function not as neutral containers for objects, but as interpretive frameworks shaped by curatorial decisions, spatial organization, and institutional context. While the reinstallation positions itself as a reconsideration of the “foundations” of American art through thematic …

Analyzing Comparisons Of Seascapes By Caspar David Friedrich And Fitz Henry Lane Through A Digital Gallery Show, Adrianna Murphy

Theses

This project focuses on a comparative digital exhibition and analysis between Caspar David Friedrich and Fitz Henry Lane’s seascape artwork. Both artists have not been shown together in a gallery; thus this research into common themes in their works reveals a new perspective on early- to mid-19th-century seascape art. This perspective shows how their different geographies and historical contexts converge through the shared visual language of contemplation, morality, and reflecting in the mystery of life through nature. The project aims to create a digital gallery that showcases an ideal layout and a comparison of the artists, with curated works that …

Historic Churches Of Sheboygan, Erin Brehmer

Theses

This project focuses on the histories and architecture of six nineteenth- and early twentieth-century churches in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and developing a museum program about them. The aim of the project is to add to the art historical knowledge of Midwest architecture by researching the Greek Revival architecture used by First Baptist Church of Sheboygan; the Gothic Revival styles used by Grace Episcopal Church, St. Luke United Methodist Church, Hope Reformed Church, and St. Clement Catholic Church; and the Byzantine ornamentation used by St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church. Furthermore, this project uses the historical findings to create a museum public program …

Public Art And Military Technology At The Mexico-U.S. Border: Disrupting Boundaries On Battlegrounds, Anna Luise Kaunert

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how contemporary artists Rubén Ortiz Torres, Chico MacMurtrie, rafa esparza, and Cassils transformed military technologies into powerful artworks that interrogate the Mexico-U.S. border as a battlefield. Together, their works illuminate militarization and surveillance technologies at the border and the violent enforcement of U.S. immigration policy.

Containment, Quin Mittelstead

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores “containment" (the act of keeping something within limits) as both oppressive control and a mode of self-regulation, grounded in the author’s experience with epilepsy. Paintings deploy grayscale grounds, restrained palettes, and contrasting rapid/slow gestures; emergent color, texture, and altered substrates map psychological states, bodily impulses, and reactive processes. Research into witchcraft, remedial items, and eugenics (notably Buck v. Bell) informs works that link historical censorship and institutional violence to contemporary stigma. Sculptural installations (nets, jute, flawed Faraday-like enclosures) and cannibalized studio materials probe systems that restrain thought, media, and bodies. By introducing unpredictable variables with found supports, …

Book Review: More Historic Rural Churches Of Georgia, Austina Jordan

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Southwest Black Artists Collective: Afro-Modern Ecology, Kinship, And Collectivity In The Desert Southwest, Bradley L. Petty

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Southwest Black Artists Collective (SBAC) as a site of

Afro-diasporic kinship, artistic production, and spatial intervention within the Desert

Southwest. Operating within a region where Black populations are comparatively small

and institutional support is diffuse, SBAC emerges as both a response to and a

reconfiguration of the regional artistic landscape. The Collective constructs an affirming

community through shared artistic practice, exhibitions, and the maintenance of The

Projects/Space in Tucson, Arizona, where public engagement and private creative

exchange coexist.

Drawing on theories of human ecology, this study expands existing frameworks

by introducing the concept of Afro-modern ecology, …

An Analysis Of Katsinam Figurines In The University's Gendler Collection, Sam Rekstad

Undergraduate Research Symposium (2026- )

After a cultural shift in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Euro-American collectors and ethnologists took a significant interest in sacred indigenous objects such as the Hopi Katsinam figurines, which spurred transformations in the ways the figurines tended to be stylized, as well as in how they were circulated. Such figures were initially created solely for ritual and communal purposes, but in modern and contemporary times, they are often created by makers who identify themselves as artists. In this project, I study the history surrounding the creation and distribution of Katsina figurines and also examine selected Katsina figurines in …

Hotels As Placemakers In Downtown Los Angeles, 1890-1950, Chrissie Alea Rensing, Megan Kendrick

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Early twentieth-century Los Angeles is often characterized as a rapidly expanding metropolis shaped by informal segregation along lines of race, class, and gender. Yet within this landscape, hotels and lodging houses sometimes functioned as unexpected sites of inclusion and community for marginalized populations. This project investigates how these spaces of hospitality served women and racial minorities between 1890 and 1950 in Los Angeles. Drawing from recent scholarship from Natalia Molina and others, we set out to examine the role of vernacular hotel architecture and the “placemakers” who operated them.

The project involved examining hundreds of handwritten census pages and original …

Harriet Hosmer: Femininity And Stone, Savannah V. Parrish

Undergraduate Theses

Harriet Hosmer was an American woman sculptor who studied in Rome, Italy, from 1853 to 1900. Hosmer led her own cohort of women artists and inspired other artists in Rome. Hosmer’s sculptures and the controversies surrounding them exemplify her experiences as a career woman of her time. Hosmer made sculptures of women who defied the will of men, both mythical and historical. Hosmer’s sculptures show how she felt restricted in the world, particularly in the field of sculpture as a woman and how like the figures of her sculptures she found freedom in stone, where she could tell the stories …

Sparks Under Ashes, Ani Sargsyan

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Rooted in hope, reflections on longing, family history, and the contemporary Armenian experience take precedence in Sparks Under Ashes. The title of the show itself derives from my great-grandfather’s notebook, which details his unjust exile during the Great Purge of the Soviet era and other life experiences. His handwriting becomes ingrained in my work as both our marks collide through painting, drawing, and transfer processes to bridge the time between us and celebrate generations of resilience.

Acts of endurance are crucial for Armenia’s survival because attempts of erasure have always been prominent, with the 1915 genocide being the darkest …

Fugitive Formalisms: Strategies Of Dissemblance And Dissent In The Work Of Queer-Identifying Artists, 1970–Present, Rowan Diaz-Toth

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing case studies of works by Hélio Oiticica, Scott Burton, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres as points of departure, this thesis puts forth a speculative historical framework for reconsidering queer art practices up through the present day in opposition to regimes of visibility and transparency, exploring the subversive, fugitive potential of non-representational formalisms.

Capturing The Spirit Of Childhood: An Analysis Of Robert Henri’S Portraits Of Children, Alex C. Maccaro

Theses and Dissertations

Robert Henri (1865-1929) is perhaps best known as the prominent leader of the turn-of-the century American movement The Eight, commonly known as “the Ashcan School,” and as a leading teacher in the United States during the early twentieth century. However, his artistic output as a portrait painter, particularly of children, is also significant. Beginning in 1904 and throughout his career as an artist, Henri painted hundreds of images of children in the various foreign or remote locales to which he traveled, often depicting the same subject in multiple instances. These portraits range from the roughly painted, rosy-cheeked Dutch youth of …

Sparks: A Love Story, Stacey Kramer

MA Projects

In 1953 Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns met through a mutual friend, thus sparking a romantic and creative partnership that would endure until late 1961. At a time when it was illegal to be in a same-sex relationship, these two artists collaborated and inspired each other, and together they changed the course of contemporary art. Breaking free of the Abstract Expressionists, they chartered an artistic path forward and beyond while working from their adjacent studios, sharing intimacies and a similar mindset.  The two artists often channeled a shared sensibility and aesthetic, developing their own symbolic language even as they avoided …

Transmission/Reception, Ma'ayan Noy

MA Projects

From the 1940’s to the 70’s the California-based artist Wallace Berman produced a wide-spreading oeuvre, encompassed drawing, collage, assemblage, single channel video, and three dimensional object making. His practice was deeply informed by his interest in Jazz, Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, film, and poetry, and more. The transmission and reception of an everflowing stream of references which informs Berman’s creative intake and output adopts a mystical undertone in his grand oeuvre. The unifying theme for Transmission/Reception asserts the centrality of Kabbalistic influences on Berman’s practice, his affinity and spiritual regard for the act of creating. Transmission/Reception underscores Berman’s underlying belief …

The Lost Art Of Club Photography: Capturing Nyc’S Nightlife And Cultural Legacy From The 1980s To The 1990s, Madeleine M. Canfield

MA Theses

This thesis examines how club photography in New York City’s nightlife of the 1980s and 1990s both shaped and reflected cultural identity, and investigates why this visual practice has largely disappeared in the age of social media. By focusing on photographer Steve Eichner and his documentation of iconic moments from one of Peter Gatien’s four mega-clubs, this thesis analyzes published photographs and articles to examine how visual representation shaped the culture it portrayed. The research demonstrates that club photography was instrumental in shaping public perception of nightlife, capturing the spontaneity, creativity, and energy of the era. It also highlights how …

Constructing Minimalism: Canon Formation, Exclusion, And The Afterlives Of An Aesthetic, Lucy Ewert

MA Theses

Academics, critics, curators, and artists alike have perpetually struggled to agree on a coherent definition of Minimalism since its inception. Who is included in the historical canon, what its defining characteristics are, and the movement's legacy have long since been contested. This thesis will explore the origins of Minimalism, tracing its emergence from movements such as Abstract Expressionism, and discuss the early values that shaped its perception through a handful of fundamental voices. The study will also survey three of Minimalism’s modernist predecessors, questioning the extent of influence these movements may have had.  Understanding the origins of Minimalism will set …

The Postmodern Frontier: Richard Prince And The Neoliberal Spectacle Of The American Dream, Taïs Khassanova

MA Theses

This thesis examines the oeuvre of Richard Prince’s as a sustained allegory of contemporary American visual culture, beginning with his Cowboys series as the point of origin from which his later appropriations, including Girlfriends, Spiritual America, and New Portraits, unfold. Through the recursive gesture of appropriation, Prince’s Cowboys expose the myth of rugged independence as a corporate fiction, revealing how the frontier ethos was redeployed under the Reagan presidency to naturalize neoliberal ideology. Building on this premise, the thesis traces how such logic extends throughout Prince’s subsequent body of work, as his Girlfriends refigure the cowboy’s masculine autonomy as the …