M.F.A. Graduate Earns Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellowship

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Dilenia Garcia.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Dilenia Garcia, who recently graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Masters of Fine Arts degree in art, has a busy summer ahead. First, she will pursue her study of fibers at the Haystack School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, in early June. Garcia competed for and received a fellowship to the Haystack School, and also earned the first M.F.A. Grant awarded through the U of A department of art, another competitive award that will help fund her studies. 

Garcia then goes to the Smithsonian Latino Center, where she received a fellowship to take part in the 2013 Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program and Practicum, which runs from July 1 to Aug. 9, in Washington, D.C. Garcia was chosen from a nationwide pool of applicants to take part in the program, which was developed to increase the representation, documentation, research, knowledge and interpretation of Latino art, culture and history.

“The understanding and engaging of material culture is at the core of my artistic inquiry,” said Garcia. “I look forward to continue, in both of these programs, the investigations I began at the University of Arkansas.”

At the Smithsonian, Garcia will spend two weeks in a series of lectures, workshops, interactive discussions and behind-the-scenes tours of Smithsonian museums and collections.   Curators, researchers, historians, archivists and professors will lead interactive and lively tours and discussions providing participants a unique opportunity to see and hear first-hand the best practices in museums and cultural centers.

This will be followed by the four-week practicum at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Lunder Conservation Center, Latin-American Conservation and Collections Research. Garcia will be working alongside conservators to generate materials for Latin American works in its conservation department and assisting with research and planning for the upcoming exhibition “Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art” opening in October 2013. Her duties will also include assisting with preventive conservation treatments for works of art in exhibition.