Accredited two-year residency program specializes in the arts of the Americas

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is honoring the first graduating class of the University of Arkansas School of Art Master of Art History program. Six students graduated this May after a two-year program in partnership with Crystal Bridges specializing in the arts of the Americas.

Educating students in a multivocal and inclusive art history, the program aims to give students the interdisciplinary training and robust work experiences that they will need to thrive with an M.A. degree in industries that value visual literacy, creativity, communication, collaboration, and research. Thanks to the generous gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, students in the M.A. art history program receive tuition waivers and opportunities for additional funding support through graduate assistantships, fellowships, research, and travel.

The M.A. program, the Tyson Scholars of American Art Program, and Crystal Bridges and the Momentary’s artist-in-residence program are all part of a community of scholars in the arts ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas.

“The M.A. program is designed to make use of the remarkable resources in Northwest Arkansas,” said Jennifer Greenhill, endowed professor of American art, inaugural director of the M.A. program, and a former Tyson Scholar. “Students are benefitting from a cross-institutional education and unparalleled access to a world-class collection of American art thanks to Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, and the community of scholars they have been instrumental in establishing.”

M.A. students have mentorship opportunities with Tyson Scholars and with local arts organizations like Art Bridges, in addition to the access to resources at the museums. Tyson Scholars and museum curators and staff have access to the University of Arkansas resources and faculty.

The unique partnership of this program in the region, as well as the unprecedented financial support, has made a lasting impact on M.A. graduate students.

“My classmates and I have been able to broaden our perspectives through in-depth seminars on a range of topics,” said Djamila Ricciardi, a graduate of the 2025 class. “A personal highlight was ‘Case Studies in Art History and Curatorial Practice’, taught by Jen Padgett, Windgate curator of craft at Crystal Bridges. This class truly encapsulated the spirit of the partnership between the M.A. program and Crystal Bridges.”

Another graduating student, Alex Betz, reflected how being a part of this fully funded program gave him the ability to immerse himself in the specialized research and pursue opportunities that would have otherwise been inaccessible.

“Graduate school is challenging enough; being able to dedicate myself completely to following my curiosities and academic passions without fear of making ends meet has been a gift beyond measure,” added Betz.

On May 8, 2025, the six students presented research and celebrated the culmination of their scholarly efforts at the first annual symposium of the M.A./Arts of the Americas Program in the Great Hall at Crystal Bridges. The graduates sought to amplify under-told stories of marginalized makers, bring interdisciplinary approaches into focus, address gaps in existing scholarship, and highlight knowledge systems that exist outside dominant narratives.

The students in the inaugural class committed several months to their innovative research projects, which treated everything from whittling in Wisconsin to nuclear photography to portrait pins of Black Arkansans made in a floating studio in the Delta.

The 2025 graduating class of Art History M.A. students includes:

  • Alexander Betz
  • Raven Cook
  • Djamila Ricciardi
  • Ella Nowicki
  • Ibby Ouweleen
  • Larissa Randall

The program will welcome the fourteen incoming students of its third class in August. It will accept applications for the 2026-2027 academic year in fall 2025.

“ANIMAL STORIES: NON-HUMAN ANIMALS IN THE ARTS OF THE AMERICAS”

Crystal Bridges and the University of Arkansas Department of Art also collaborated in 2025 to fund a project titled “Animal Stories: Non-Human Animals in the Arts of the Americas.” The project explores how animals appear in art and how artists tell creative stories about them through history, bringing together researchers who study art, objects, and visual culture, and who are interested in experimenting with new ways of writing history.

Led by Dr. Jennifer Marshall, professor of American art at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and 2024-2025 Tyson Scholar for Graduate Mentorship and Collaborative Initiatives, the project looks at how animals have played many roles in the arts of the Americas. Animals inspire artists, appear in artworks, and even contribute materials like fur, feathers, and eggs. Some animals even create art themselves – like birds building decorative nests or fish making patterns in the sand.

Empowered through collaborative mentorship, including a full-day (in March) engagement with University of Arkansas M.A. students, “Animal Stories” reflects how the Tyson Scholars program fosters creative scholarship, mentorship, and community engagement in the arts.

“The partnership between Crystal Bridges and the University of Arkansas School of Art reflects our shared commitment to innovative scholarship and mentorship,” said Mindy Besaw, director of research, fellowships, and university partnerships for Crystal Bridges and the Momentary. “’It has been so generative to work with the University to reimagine how we write, think, and learn about art history.”

“Animal Stories: Non-Human Animals in the Arts of the Americas,” is led by Jennifer Marshall in collaboration with Kendra Greendeer, Kelsey Dayle John, Bart Pushaw, Annie Ronan, Xiao Situ, and TK Smith.

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