UNC Department of Art and Art History

09/09/2026

Hey! Is that a photo of dual-degree MA/MSLS student Lee Must doing a summer internship at the Library of Congress! Our grad students get the best summer jobs!

09/08/2026

Congratulations to Art History Professor Maggie Cao on winning the 2026 Eldredge Prize!

The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced that Dr. Maggie M. Cao, professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has been awarded the Charles C. Eldredge Prize for her book Painting US Empire: Nineteenth-Century Art and Its Legacies (University of Chicago Press, 2025).

The annual Eldredge Prize, named in honor of the museum’s former director (1982–1988), recognizes originality and thoroughness of research, excellence of writing, and clarity of method. Single-author, book-length publications in the field of American art history appearing within the previous three calendar years are eligible.

09/02/2026

The IAH is proud to announce its 2026-27 Faculty Fellowship Program recipients. This fall, assistant professor of art and art history Sherrill Roland will join the Fellows Table to work on his project “Personal Effects: Archive of the Weathered.”

Roland is an award-winning artist who teaches sculpture and expanded media at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is the creator of The Jumpsuit Project, a performance-arts based project that aims to deconstruct audience perceptions about incarceration. He’s held solo exhibitions at institutions around the country, including the Ackland Art Museum and Brooklyn’s Central Public Library, and is the recipient of numerous fellowships and accolades, including a 2025 USA Fellowship Award.

See the upcoming Faculty Fellows and their project titles on the IAH website: https://go.unc.edu/Dr6m5

08/31/2026

The first Hanes Visiting Artist Lecture of the Fall semester is this Thursday, September 3, 2026, at 5:30 pm in 100 Hamilton Hall! Jes Fan will talk about their interdisciplinary practice exploring the intersection of biology and identity, incorporating living matter, as well as invisible substances like melanin and hormones, that shape how we experience the world into their sculptures. Originally trained in glassmaking, Fan combines hand-blown cellular glass forms with casts made from sections of human bodies, in aqua resin and bearing uncanny flesh-like tones.

for more info: https://go.unc.edu/jesfan

08/20/2026

The tent is up in the John and June Allcott Gallery! Come see what is "Under the Tent: Whirling & Flickering" today, August 20, from 5-7 pm. Meet the artists Michelle Inez Hinojosa and Barbara Pearsall

Fun for one and all!

The tent will be in the gallery through October 15, 2026.

08/17/2026

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Andrew D. Turner on the publication of Artifacts to Art: Collecting Ancient America in Midcentury L.A. Co-authored with Mary E. Miller and Khristaan D. Villela, Artifacts to Art accompanies a Getty Research Institute exhibition revealing the history of how pre-Hispanic artifacts were smuggled into the United States and reconceptualized as works of art. Once valued primarily as ethnographic objects, they were recast as fine art, appearing in museums, advertising campaigns, Hollywood films, and celebrity homes.

The book follows the influence of Los Angeles dealer Earl Stendahl, whose marketing savvy helped fuel demand for these objects and shape a new artistic canon. At the same time, it reveals the hidden networks of looting, smuggling, and forgery that supported this booming market.

Richly researched and deeply relevant, this study raises important questions about collecting, authenticity, cultural heritage, and the role institutions play in defining artistic value.

For more info: https://shop.getty.edu/products/artifacts-to-art-collecting-ancient-america-in-midcentury-l-a-979-8887120287

08/13/2026

We are starting off the Fall Semester with an exciting new installation in the John and June Allcott Gallery! Michelle Inez Hinojosa and Barbara Pearsall's
Under the Tent: Whirling & Flickering will be on view from August 20, 2026 to October 15, 2027. Join us for the opening reception on August 20th from 5-7 pm!

Drawn together in graduate school by their mutual love of experimentation and play, Michelle Inez Hinojosa and Barbara Pearsall have built a collaborative practice around analogue animation and vibrant abstraction. Together, their work explores optical toys, immersive installations, and movement. Under the Tent: Whirling & Flickering features kaleidoscopic imagery, flickering abstractions, projection mapping, a hidden trapdoor, and hand-cranked wheels that transform what viewers see. After searching for the perfect venue, they are thrilled to bring their collaborative installation to UNC.

For more info, go to https://go.unc.edu/flickering.

08/12/2026

MFA Alumna Sara Elizabeth Cornejo has received a 2026 Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship! 🎊🎉

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Joan Mitchell Fellowships: 15 US-based artists working in the evolving fields of painting and…

08/03/2026

Art History Faculty Bookshelf Tour: Maggie Cao

What do art historians research and teach? Take a tour of Professor Cao's office bookshelf to find out!

07/27/2026

Art History Faculty Bookshelf Tour: JJ Bauer

What do art historians research and teach? Take a tour of Professor Bauer's office bookshelf to find out!