Introducing the Tomayko Foundation Summer Research Fellows at the University of Pittsburgh:
Over the course of the summer two University of Pittsburgh students will work within local art collections and archives to produce original scholarship about artist Aaronel deRoy Gruber (1918-2011) and Frank Mason (1921-2009). These projects were selected by a faculty committee from the University of Pittsburgh, and will be supervised by Dr. Alex J. Taylor, Associate Professor, Department of History of Art and Architecture. At the culmination of the fellowship, each student will publish the outcomes and next steps for their work on the Department’s blog, which is available to the public.
Awardees:
Louise Matthews is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in History and Museum Studies. Louise has also served as a Research Assistant for Pitt’s World History Center. Her summer research project explores the jewlery of Aaronel deRoy Gruber, drawing on the collections of the Irving and Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation and the Detre Library and Archives at the Heinz History Center.
Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation
Saige Rucker is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Marketing with a minor in Museum Studies. Her summer research project examines the role of Frank Mason in advocating for traditional painting techniques, drawing on the work on display in the Frank Mason Gallery at the Tomayko Foundation and archival material from Mason’s estate. Saige is partcularly interested in Mason’s condemnation of modern art restoration techniques.
Frank Mason Gallery at the Tomayko Foundation