Madison Pierson graduated with an MA in Art History from John Cabot University in December 2020. She previously graduated summa cum laude with a BA in History from Morningside College, in Sioux City, Iowa, and in 2017 she completed Kansai Gaidai University’s Asian Studies Program in Hirakata, Japan. Madison is currently the Collections and Gallery Assistant at Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wisconsin.
How did you find out about JCU’s MA in Art History and what made you decide to apply?
I first learned about the MA program from an informational booklet I received in the mail during winter break of my senior year of undergrad. Until that point, I was uncertain about my plans after graduation. I knew I wanted to work in either a museum or archive, but I did not know what path I wanted to take to reach that professional goal. I was starting to think about a gap year, but as I flipped through the packet, I felt something click.
Growing up in rural America, I didn’t have many opportunities to visit art museums, but a few key visits taught me how impactful it would be to physically be in the presence of art and engage with other cultures. The thought of studying in Rome, surrounded not only by the art I had been studying in my survey courses but also thousands of other artistic objects I’d never even heard of, was thrilling.
What classes and/or professors impacted you the most and why?
It felt very serendipitous that the two courses that initially caught my eye in the information booklet ended up becoming the most impactful to my MA experience. Professor Lila Yawn’s Medieval Manuscript course provided me with both valuable in-class and hands-on learning experiences. Researching an unidentified manuscript fragment from the collections of the Biblioteca Comunale “Lorenzo Leoni” in Todi, Umbria was challenging but immensely satisfying. In fact, a classmate and I returned to Todi to create a digital catalogue for the library after graduating. The other course that intrigued me was Modern Murals: Rome in the Long 19th Century. Professor Karen Georgi introduced us to many fantastic mural works around Rome. I loved the intimate class size that encouraged participation, and how my thesis evolved from research I began during this course.
Tell us about your thesis.
My thesis explored the artistic career of the American painter George W. Breck, with an emphasis on his early 20th century commission to design a series of mosaics in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Within the Walls in Rome. We had studied the mosaics designed by Edward Burne-Jones in the apse of St. Paul’s in my Modern Murals course, and I became intrigued by the church’s other mosaics on the west wall and facade. Breck was the first Painting Fellow at the American Academy in Rome and later became the Director. Using resources such as the Academy’s archives, parish records, and newspaper databases, I got to study the career of an American artist who, a century before me, moved to Rome and took inspiration in being surrounded by layers of art history.
What are you currently working on?
I currently serve as the Collections and Gallery Assistant for the Wriston Art Galleries at Lawrence University in Sioux City. I care for the over 6,000 art objects in the university’s collections, which range from ancient Roman coins to illuminated manuscripts, from Japanese woodblock prints to Renaissance pen-and-ink drawings, from ceramics to contemporary Inuit carved sculptures. In addition to caring for the objects, I also maintain our digital databases and facilitate research visits. I also support our Gallery curator in the installation and programming of approximately 10 exhibitions per academic year. I also have the opportunity to train undergraduate interns in collections care.
How did the master's program prepare you for your professional life?
The master’s program impacted my professional life in many ways. My internship in Todi provided me with hands-on experience in cataloguing and describing manuscripts. The readings from courses like Medieval Manuscripts and Ancient portraiture increased my understanding and appreciation of the manuscript and ancient coin collections I currently steward. The on-site learning component of all of my classes influenced how I work with professors to integrate our art collection into their courses. The professionals at museums, archives, libraries, and churches who supported my research reinforced my passion for increasing accessibility to art collections, both digital and in-person.
Additionally, the relatively small cohort sizes foster a sense of collegiality amongst JCU graduates. I am still close with many of my classmates. We proofread each other’s articles and applications, forward job postings, and share conference information. I consider it a privilege to count both the professors and my fellow graduates as professional colleagues.
What are your plans for the future?
I feel very privileged to be working in a field that I love, and I look forward to continuing my role here at Lawrence University for the foreseeable future. If I were to change jobs, I would want to continue working in an academic gallery setting, helping to make collections more accessible to students and researchers. In addition, I do have a number of large projects that I am particularly excited about. For example, the Wriston Art Galleries received a generous donation of a rare book collection, so I’m looking forward to photographing the books, making custom boxes, and adding the collection to our digital repository on JSTOR. We also recently received an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant, which will help us steward a historic teakwood room — designed by Lockwood de Forest — on our campus. I am also looking forward to the next steps in the publication of papers presented at the MA conference held at JCU last spring.
