Museum Studies (MA) People & Stories

Graduates of the program hold exciting jobs in the highly competitive museum field, recently taking on such roles as director of public engagement at Christ Church Preservation Trust, (Hannah Wallace MA ’18); marketing and public relations coordinator at the Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology in Hangzhou, China (Xinyi Fang MA ’18); public programming coordinator at the Barnes Foundation (Bailey Gamberg MA ’19); communications coordinator at the National Portrait Gallery (Gabriela Samá Fernández MA ’19); associate curator at The African American Museum in Philadelphia (Zindzi Harley MA ’20).

Museums and institutions in Philadelphia that have hired UArts alumni include

  • Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University,
  • The African American Museum in Philadelphia,
  • The Barnes Foundation,
  • Fleisher Art Memorial,
  • The Franklin Institute,
  • Philadelphia Magic Gardens,
  • Museum of the American Revolution,
  • Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia,
  • Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Penn Museum.

Alumni Spotlights

Zindzi Harley, UArts Museum Studies MA graduate, seated at an outdoor stage and speaking into a microphone. she is wearing black glasses and is looking to her right, and is wearing a brown lacey dress.
Zindzi Harley

MA '20 (Museum Studies)

Museum Studies (MA)
Assistant Curator, African American Museum in Philadelphia
Rachel Kiskaddon smiling and standing in front of a tree and green background. She is wearing a floral shirt with dark blue, teal, and white streaks.
Rachel Kiskaddon

MA '20 (Museum Studies)

Museum Studies (MA)
Education & Public Relations Manager, American Swedish Historical Museum
headshot of Nhi Nguyen. She is standing against a blurry background of a grey brick wall and is smiling at the camera. she has long dark hair and is wearing a chartreuse turtleneck sweater
Nhi Nguyen

MA '19 (Museum Studies)

Museum Studies (MA)
Early Childhood Programs Specialist, Barnes Foundation
Claire Cossaboon MA '13 (Museum Communications)
Claire Cossaboon

MA '13 (Museum Communications)

Museum Studies (MA)
Director of Membership, Grounds for Sculpture
Mary Bailey with an owl perched on her arm
Mary Bailey

MA '10 (Museum Education)

Youth and Family Programs Developer
Ken Davis MFA '10 (Museum Exhibition Planning + Design)
Ken Davis

MFA '10 (Museum Exhibition Planning + Design)

Museum Exhibition Planning & Design (MFA)
Exhibit Planner, National Parks Service

Faculty Spotlights

Our faculty are all working professionals who are well-known in their respective fields ranging from exhibition design to public program curation and have extensive networks with prominent professionals and institutions.

Contact Museum Studies Program Director Daniel Tucker at datucker@uarts.edu.

Leadership

Daniel Tucker dressed in a navy blazer and a denim shirt and standing in front of a stone and brick backdrop
Daniel Tucker

Museum Studies (MA)
Museum Studies Program Director

Featured Faculty

Mike Adams in a blue jacket and tie with a lighter blue shirt and standing in front of a blurred background that displays a series of flags
Mike Adams, MEd

Museum Studies (MA)
Director of education at the National Constitution Center who commits to serving the small museum community.
James Britt in in black and white wearing a button down shirt against a light colored backdrop
James Britt

Museum Studies (MA)
Curator of exhibitions and programs at TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image
Lauren Burnham standing in front of a blurred outdoor landscape and wearing a green sweater over a green shirt
Lauren Burnham, MPA

Museum Studies (MA)
Assistant director of the American Swedish Historical Museum with over 20 years’ experience
Richard Cress
Richard Cress

Museum Studies (MA)
Principal of Alusiv design studio with over 30 years of experience in design services
Jessica Drass headshot
Jessica Masino Drass, MA

Art Education (MAT)
Art psychotherapist, arts-based researcher, author, clinical supervisor
Stacey Mann
Stacey Mann

Museum Studies (MA)
Interpretive strategist and learning experience designer with over 20 years of experience in the museum industry.
Monica Montgomery dressed in a yellow and white blouse with her arms folded
Monica O. Montgomery, MA

Museum Studies (MA)
Museum administrator with experience in executive leadership (three museums), curatorial (40-plus exhibits), communications and public programs
Heather Moqtaderi standing in a studio space in front of yellow and blue and other works on a white table
Heather Moqtaderi, MA

Museum Studies (MA)
Founder of Past Present Projects, a nonprofit organization that collaborates with historic sites and collections on contemporary art exhibitions and programs
Museum Exhibition Planning & Design program leader Stephanie Reyer
Stephanie Reyer

Museum Exhibition Planning & Design (MFA)
Exhibit designer with more than 20 years of experience developing award-winning exhibitions back to top
Aislinn Pentecost-Farren stands in front of a body of water at twilight and smiles at the camera
Aislinn Pentecost-Farren

Museum Studies (MA)
Artist, curator, and public historian who creates interdisciplinary projects with museums, parks, and heritage sites

Student Spotlights

headshot of marshall oneill against a background of books. marshall is wearing a black pinstripe blazer, a black and white patterned scarf, a black beanie, and a studded leather bracelet. marshall has a soft smile and is wearing black glasses.
Marshall J. O'Neill

headshot of jessica connor against a background of white bookshelves.
Jessica Connor, M.Ed.

headshot of eva solano wearing a blue flowery bomber jacket in front of white bookshelves
Eva Solano

headshot of karen andrade against a backdrop of a white bookshelves
Karen J Andrade

arianna olivieri wearing a pink sunrise and heart patterned jacket against a background of library books
Arianna Olivieri

headshot of kaitlyn grundy against a background of bookshelving
Kaitlyn Grundy

headshot of Sarah Lennox in a blue sweater against a background of library shelving
Sarah Lennox

Stories

 

Field Trips

Embedded in various Museum Studies courses are field trips to local museums in Philadelphia and museums along the east coast. Students make connections with working professionals and gain a behind the scenes perspective.

Every spring semester, the first-year cohort takes a field trip as part of their Collaborative Exhibition Project to a group of museums and historic sites relating to the special collection of their exhibition development experience.

Every fall semester, the Museum Studies Department leads a field trip to renowned institutions in New York or Washington, DC to provide further connections to professionals working in the field and gain a behind-the-scenes perspective.

There are additional weekly field trips embedded in certain core courses. During Museum Studies Research, students take weekly field trips to some of Philadelphia’s iconic museums and hidden cultural and historic gems. This encounter during the first semester of the program introduces students to future mentors, internship supervisors, and/or future employers in the museum field.

Card
Museum studies MA
Develop your passion and agency as an educator and advocate through the Master of Art Museum Studies program at University of the Arts. You’ll study the broad landscape of museum work through a hands-on curriculum, focusing on the construction of knowledge and on the solutions to issues facing museums today - including diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion, and emerging technologies in cultural institutions.
Explore Museum Studies at UArts