Back from Hiatus!

Hello everyone! I am finally back to writing on this wonderful blog after a much needed break due to school work. I have been so wrapped up in class papers, attending a fellowship at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), participating my first conference at the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), and now writing my master’s thesis. Right now, I am on my second draft! I plan on writing more once I have graduated in March, but in the meantime here are some achievements that I have completed over the past year.

At my job at Telfair Museums, I have been able to write several collections labels for the online collections. Four portraits that hang in the upstairs gallery of the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters now have new online labels that can help any scholar, or intrested historian, learn more about the Telfair’s permanent collection. You can read more about those portraits through the “label texts” links below:

Henry McAlpin

Ellen McAlpin

Archibald McAllister

Elizabeth McAllister

I also had the opportunity to rewrite a museum plaque in the basement of the OTH&SQ. Through intensive, historical research done from primary records of the house, including floor plans, family letters, and paint analysis, we are now able to know just a little more than we did before about the original purpose of the southwest chamber of the basement.

Me standing with the new museum panel at the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters in Savannah, GA.

In June, 2024 I had the pleasure of participating as a Summer Institute Fellow at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, located in Winston Salem, NC.

You can view my final presentation HERE titled “Architecture and Theocracy in Late 18th Century Salem, NC.”

The Vision of Saint Bernard. Lower Rhine. Early 14th century. India ink, partial color wash on paper. 10x7in. Museum Shnütgen, Cologne, Germany, Inv. No. 340.

In September, 2024 I spoke at my first conference at the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) hosted in Atlanta, GA. My paper, titled “The Blood of Christ: Medieval Conceptions and the Vision of Saint Bernard,” focused on medieval Europe and the mystical visions of a Cistercian nun, who scholars believe was the artist of this work on paper. Blood was a powerful tool for early Christians to participate in the divine mystery of the transubstantiation—the literal transformation of the wine and bread at the high altar into the blood and body of Christ—conducted by the priest at every mass. Nuns were often ostensibly withheld from this miracle, or oftentimes fasted long periods of time before they participated, which could result in women feeling immense ecstasy upon receiving the Eucharist.

Stay tuned for updates, content, and more! I am excited to be back into the swing of things!