Marica and Jan Vilcek
Curatorial Program
Owing to the generosity and vision of Marica Vilcek, Chair of our Board of Trustees, and her husband, the renowned biomedical scientist Dr. Jan T. Vilcek, the Institute has been able to create a program in curatorial practice and museum history. At least three curators from nearby museums and collections teach a seminar at the Institute each year, thereby enhancing our students’ understanding of the complex research and practical planning that go into organizing an exhibition, installing a set of galleries, developing the programming and other events associated with a curatorial project, and acquiring and caring for works of art.
We look forward to offering rigorous courses in curatorial practice in the coming academic year as we continue to offer training to the next generation of professionals in the field. It is a distinctive feature of our Marica and Jan Vilcek Curatorial Program that we integrate the study of the history and meaning of museums, with seminars on contemporary curatorial practices and the issues museums and collections face today, the research and preparation for specific exhibitions or reinstallations of collections, and the technical study of art history and the care of collections.
The Marica and Jan Vilcek Curatorial Program also provides two year-long, full-time curatorial fellowships for advanced PhD students, one fellowship to be held each year at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the other at any museum or collection.
Courses
These courses are offered through the History of Art and Archaeology MA and PhD programs at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU, and are available to students in the PhD program in the History of Art and Archaeology, the MA program in the History of Art and Archaeology, and the MS/MA program in Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works/History of Art and Archaeology.
Fall 2026
Tith Kanitha: Cambodia and Contemporaneity
(Catherine Quan Damman)
This seminar is required for selected graduate student curators of the Fall 2026 Great Hall Exhibition featuring Tith Kanitha (b. 1987, Phnom Penh, Cambodia). Tith works across several artistic media: making sculptures, installations, performances, videos, and works on paper, as well as playing a central role in Cambodian independent cinema. Her artistic practice involves laborious and meditative processes—her renowned sculptures are formed by first coiling steel wire around a rod; voluted with kinetic potential, these are woven into larger forms of organic abstraction. Describing her work as “in pursuit of freedom,” the artist uses her practice to negotiate issues specific to Cambodia, where the afterlives of the Khmer Rouge (1975–1979) persist.
Spring 2027
Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio
(Anne Umland)
This seminar takes advantage of a rare opportunity offered by the major monographic exhibition "Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio," on view at The Museum of Modern Art from October 25, 2026, to February 27, 2027. Meeting in the galleries during the early weeks, participants will study firsthand the sculptures, hand-carved furniture and bases, photographs, films, tools, and archival materials assembled there; later sessions will be held at the IFA. Led by the exhibition’s guest curator, the seminar considers both the intellectual and practical dimensions of the show’s organization, from conceptual framing to questions of installation, loans, and display.
Spring 2027
Mondrian from De Stijl to New York
(Harry Cooper)
This seminar will focus on the development of Piet Mondrian’s abstract painting from 1917-1944 with special attention to his late work. The second half of the semester will include visits to the MoMA exhibition Mondrian Boogie Woogie (3/21-7/31/2027) and meetings with its curator and conservators.
Past Courses
Helen Frankenthaler: Curating in Practice. (Harry Cooper)
This seminar will offer a real-time window into the intellectual and practical aspects of organizing a major monographic exhibition. Led by a National Gallery curator organizing a retrospective of her work, participants will study the career of American painter Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011).
Acaye Kerunen: Polymath [Great Hall Exhibition] (Catherine Quan Damman and Prita Meier)
This seminar is required for the selected graduate student curators of the Fall 2025 Great Hall Exhibition featuring Acaye Kerunen (b. 1981, lives and works in Kampala, Uganda). In addition, seminar participants will collaboratively work together to realize Kerunen’s exhibition, giving them hands-on curatorial experience.
The Politics of Everyday Life in the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk), 1860-1910 (Eleanor Hyun and Iris Moon)
This course considers the visual and material culture of the Korean Empire
(ca.1897-1910), and what Michel de Certeau described as the “practices of everyday
life.” The short but dynamic decade of the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk) deserves
serious reconsideration, beyond its typical position as the forgotten period between
the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and Japan’s colonization of Korea (1910-45).
In addition to readings and active discussion, this seminar will allow students to
gain experience in examining works in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of
Art.
