Harvard Art Museums welcome 2026 fellows

The Harvard Art Museums are pleased to welcome a group of eleven scholars to the museums’ longstanding fellowship program this fall. The program is designed to broaden the experience of those embarking on professional museum careers in art history and related fields, conservation and conservation science, and museum education.

During their one or two year appointments, participants in the Harvard Art Museums Fellowship Program become integral members of staff, collaborating with colleagues across the institution. Fellows contribute to the multidisciplinary work of the museums by conducting scientific research on the materials and techniques used to create artworks in the collections, developing conservation treatment plans for works of art in the collections, conducting original research on the collections, organizing thematic displays in the collections galleries, assisting with exhibition and interpretation planning, and leading class visits and facilitating the museums’ Graduate Student Teacher Program.

Division of Academic and Public Programs

Talia Idelson, Cunningham Fellow in Academic and Public Programs

Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art

Penny Coombe, Kelekian Curatorial Fellow in Ancient Art

Division of European and American Art

Alec Aldrich, Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow

Division of Modern and Contemporary Art

Krisztina Ilko, Stefan Engelhorn Curatorial Fellow in the Busch-Reisinger Museum

Danielle Smith, Emily Rauh Pulitzer Curatorial Fellow in Contemporary Drawings

Vuk Vuković, Hakuta Family Nam June Paik Curatorial Fellow

Sasha Whittaker, John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Curatorial Fellow in Photography

Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

Daisy Diamond, Objects Conservation Fellow

Caitlin Green, Richard I. Shader Fellow in Paintings Conservation

Heini Korhonen, Craigen W. Bowen Paper Conservation Fellow

Natasha Reich, Beal Family Postgraduate Fellow in Conservation Science

Talia Idelson, Cunningham Fellow in Academic and Public Programs

“The fellows are critical to our ability to deliver on our mission as a teaching museum,” said Sarah Ganz Blythe, the Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums. “We are deeply grateful to the many generous donors who make these positions possible. Through their research, creativity, and commitment, our fellows bring fresh energy and critical insight to the museum, and their contributions help shape our work across the institution.”

Alumni of this program currently hold positions at institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Balboa Art Conservation Center, Berlinische Galerie, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Block Museum of Art, Boston College, British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Delaware Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, J. Paul Getty Museum, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Kanagawa University, Kunsthaus Zürich, Leiden University, Menil Drawing Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morgan Library & Museum, National Gallery of Art, Rijksmuseum, Saint Louis Art Museum, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Spencer Museum of Art, Van Gogh Museum, Yale Center for British Art, and Yale University Art Gallery.

The fellows program builds on the Harvard Art Museums’ long tradition of training museum professionals. In the early 20th century, Fogg Museum staff taught graduate courses in museum management and curatorship, as well as hands-on studies of artists’ materials and techniques. This work led to the founding of the Department of Technical Studies in 1928, now the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies — a world leader in conservation, research, and training. Today, the museums continue to develop future leaders through other training opportunities, including the Ho Family Student Guide Program, the Graduate Student Teacher Program, and undergraduate and graduate level internships.