2016
KEVIN ADKISSON
An early interest in building led Kevin Adkisson from his home in Marietta, Georgia, across the U.S. to explore the American architectural landscape. Entering Yale University, Kevin focused on architecture as an envelope for objects through work in the Yale University Art Gallery’s American Decorative Arts Furniture Study. After earning his B.A. in architecture (2012), Kevin’s interest in contemporary traditional design led him to work for Robert A.M. Stern in New York City as a research and writing associate. Most recently, Kevin exercised his technical abilities at Kent Bloomer Studio in New Haven, where he designed and fabricated architectural ornament. Kevin brings his passion for architecture and design history to Winterthur to develop a deeper understanding of American material culture.
HANNAH BOETTCHER
Hannah Boettcher is from Paoli, Pennsylvania, and developed an appreciation for regional American art and history while visiting relatives in the Midwest. She received her B.F.A. in painting and art history with a minor in history from Washington University in St. Louis in 2012. While in school, Hannah studied art in Florence, Italy, and interned in collections and interpretation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Winterthur Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum and Campbell House Museum. In summer 2013, she served as the 1800 House intern in historic arts and crafts at Nantucket Historical Association. Hannah volunteers in curatorial research at the Museum of the American Revolution and most recently promoted public interest in material culture at Crate & Barrel and the Brandywine River Museum of Art. At Winterthur, she looks forward to studying how artists have represented objects and exploring the many things created to contain other things.
KATIE BONANNO
Born and raised in central New Jersey, Katie Bonanno’s diligence in preserving the ephemera of her childhood led her to work towards an Honors B.A. in art conservation with distinction at the University of Delaware. She graduated in 2014 after studying in Cambodia and Vietnam as well as adding minors in art history, material culture studies, public policy, and environmental humanities to her course of study. Katie gained hands-on experience in the preservation of cultural heritage by interning in museums from Delaware to Alaska, completing treatments of textiles, paper, outdoor sculpture, and objects. Increasingly fascinated by the potential for meaningful dialogue around museum objects, Katie linked her diverse academic interests through her senior thesis, an investigation of the role of museums in their surrounding communities. Arguing for the importance of community engagement in museums, she translated theory into practice through a series of community-based public programs she planned, facilitated, and evaluated at the University of Delaware’s Mechanical Hall Gallery. At Winterthur, Katie looks forward to exploring further linkages between museums, material culture, and a diverse public.
WILLIE GRANSTON
Willie Granston was raised on Mount Desert Island, Maine. At an early age, he became fascinated with the area’s rich collection of summer cottages, many designed by Amerca’s preeminent architects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He received his undergraduate degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he majored in art history and French, and minored in architectural studies. During his junior year he studied the political symbolism of French architecture at the Institute d’études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo). He is on the Board of Directors of the Great Harbor Maritime Museum in Northeast Harbor, Maine, where he has curated several exhibits, including his most recent: “Sited on the Shore,” which investigates the interrelationship between the built environment and the natural environment of Mount Desert Island. Aside from his love of American resort architecture, Willie enjoys learning about the Art Nouveau movement, collecting souvenir china, and photographing great architecture from the waters off Mount Desert Island.
AMY GRIFFIN
Although a native New Englander, Amy comes to Winterthur from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned an M.A. in art history and museum studies. For her thesis, which was supported by a grant from the Graduate School, she produced a self-guided tour for the National Building Museum in Washington. Examining change in the built environment surrounding the museum, the project incorporated research on her favorite topic, nineteenth-century architecture and decorative arts. Amy shared her enthusiasm for this subject with public audiences as a docent at Maymont Mansion and as an educator at Olana State Historic Site. Before embarking on a museum career, Amy explored material culture by processing fiber at a mill in upstate New York and attending an archaeological dig in Cyprus organized by New York University, where she earned her B.A. in art history. Amy looks forward to examining pre-nineteenth-century subjects and cultivating new museum interpretation skills while at Winterthur.
ROSALIE HOOPER
Growing up in Ambler, Pennsylvania, Rosalie Hooper’s historical bent flourished when she began volunteering as a costumed interpreter at nearby Peter Wentz Farmstead. She graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in history with honors, a minor in mathematics, and won the History Department’s S.P. Lippincott Prize. During a semester in Rome, Rosalie worked at the Excavation of the Mausoleum of Augustus. She developed a passion for all things Ben Franklin while working as a storyteller in Philadelphia. After receiving a research grant and a SHEAR/Mellon fellowship, Rosalie wrote her thesis about Pennsylvania Hall, which was destroyed by a mob three days after it opened in 1838. After graduating, Rosalie worked as a payroll clerk and created Pennsylvania Hall Day, an educational event at the National Constitution Center. When she isn’t indulging her love for Philadelphia history, Rosalie enjoys reminiscing about her days in Queen Diamond.
EMILY PAZAR
Emily Pazar grew up in Maryland and Upstate New York, gaining an appreciation for art and history in a family fond of antique stores and museum visits. Her university education brought her to Montreal, where she studied at McGill University for a B.A. in history, graduating with first class honors. In Budapest, she learned about Hungarian language and culture at the Balassi Summer University. Her two honors projects centered on the semiotics of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and perceptions of Bauhaus identity in Hungarian émigré artists living in the United States. Seeking experiences connecting ideas about identity and objects, Emily acted as a guide at Château Ramezay Historic Site and Museum of Montreal. She was also a volunteer coordinator for a women’s artisan entrepreneurship nonprofit, Artistri Sud, and an interpretive intern at Gettysburg’s Eisenhower National Historic Site. She looks forward to pursuing the study of identity, nostalgia, and memory through material culture at Winterthur.
MATTHEW SKIC
Matthew Skic grew up in central New Jersey where he developed a passion for the history of the early United States. Participation in living history demonstrations, family journeys to museums, and employment as an historical interpreter at Washington Crossing State Park encouraged his interest in material culture. Matthew earned a B.A. in history at American University where he examined the deployment of wartime memories by veterans of the American War for Independence in his senior thesis. He also volunteered at the National Archives and completed a collections management and a curatorial internship at the National Museum of American History. As a curatorial intern, he studied a collection of English creamware jugs and bowls produced for the American market. A dedicated baseball fan and autograph collector, Matthew also enjoys woodworking, sewing, and collecting World War II military antiques with his brother.