Academic and Public Programs
SITSA
Summer Institute for Technical Studies in Art
June 2–13, 2025
Call for Participation
The Summer Institute for Technical Studies in Art (SITSA) is an intensive, two-week workshop for Ph.D. students of art history from diverse backgrounds and research areas whose training to date has given them limited access to object-focused technical inquiry, methodologies, and instruction. It aims to expose participants to the interdisciplinary approach and tools that are core to technical studies while fostering relationships that further collaboration, enrich research, and enhance scholarship across the field of art history and beyond.
As the field of art history continues to evolve toward a more interdisciplinary, inclusive practice, the role of scientific inquiry and technical study is increasingly valued. And as art history students contemplate careers in academia as well as in the museum field, they will appreciate the important role that the dynamic dialogue with conservation professionals and artists plays both in fostering a fuller understanding of the physical nature and life story of objects and in informing decisions about their preservation and stewardship.
Throughout the course, participants will engage with conservators, conservation scientists, curators, art historians, artists, and other makers in the collaborative environment of the Harvard Art Museums and the neighboring Department of History of Art and Architecture as well as other academic and cultural venues in the Greater Boston area. Under the direction of Francesca Bewer, Research Curator for Conservation and Technical Studies Programs at the Harvard Art Museums, SITSA will unite an expert faculty to engage the cohort in close looking, art making, and the scientific investigation of objects from the museums’ collections. Students will take part in peer-to-peer teaching, discuss technical art history writing, and have opportunities to question their assumptions about the physical realities and lives of objects. The cohort will explore ways in which the skills and knowledge they acquire during the course can meaningfully contribute to their research, be applied in teaching, and be communicated in different museum contexts.
Each participant will be provided with housing and a stipend of $1,800 to help cover round-trip travel costs, food, and incidental expenses for the duration of the program.
This workshop is made possible with support from the Mellon Foundation.
Course Topic: Experiment
The term experiment originates from the Latin experiri (to experience, to attempt, to try out). It describes repeated attempts at a process with the aim of achieving some unknown new insight and involves a modification of variables and a logical analysis of the results between repeated trials. While most often associated with scientific procedures undertaken in a laboratory to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact, in its wider sense experimentation is ubiquitous in most arenas of our lives, including the artistic one. Throughout the centuries and across the world, artists have developed their craft by trying out different or new materials and techniques and experimenting with themes, thereby pushing new boundaries.
Who and/or what drives and supports experimentation related to artistic production? Who is entitled to experiment, and who is left out? How does experimentation manifest itself within more traditional cultures and institutions? How might one characterize the group dynamics of experimentation when processes involve the collaboration of numerous specialists with diverse skills? What kinds of experiments can art historians use to better understand the facture and condition of an artwork and how best to share that knowledge in their writing? What kind of experimentation is involved in conservation work? How have museums been experimenting with the integration of technical information in their exhibitions and interpretative materials?
These are some of the questions that we will explore throughout the course, drawing primarily on the Harvard Art Museums’ rich collections and the research and expertise of staff. Sample case studies will include Edvard Munch’s reuse of compositional elements in various permutations, both in paintings and prints featured in the exhibition Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking, on view during the course. Another case study may be Doris Salcedo’s A Flor de Piel, a “textile” made of rose petals that involved lengthy interdisciplinary experimentation; Dieter Roth’s newly acquired sculptural works that are made of everyday ephemeral materials; or the embroidered photographs of Cote d’Ivoire–born artist Joanna Choumali. The museums’ extensive collection of Bauhaus materials will inspire practical exercises that offer a glimpse into what was one big experimental teaching ground for artists with a grand vision of social change.
In a hands-on experiment, participants will remake an artwork after comparing physical evidence and contemporary documentary sources. This will encourage us to think about the choices involved, as well as the benefits and challenges of undertaking such historical reconstructions, which are important tools in technical art history. Finally, participants will also review examples of scientific experiments undertaken by the conservation department over the past century, with the aim of understanding not only the trajectory of conservation work but the benefits of an experimental approach.
For more than a hundred years, the Harvard Art Museums have been defined as a “laboratory for the fine arts.” As one manifestation of the museums’ pedagogical goals, SITSA aims to provide a nurturing ground for interdisciplinary, collaborative experiences in art-technical research that will enrich our collective interpretative tool set. We therefore look forward to also learning about the ways in which participants and SITSA alums experiment (or would like to) in their own research and teaching.
Eligibility and Application Process
Art history students currently enrolled in or completing a doctoral program in North America at the time of the course are eligible to apply. No background in science or conservation is required, and any specialization is welcome. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their expressed interest in integrating technical studies in their own scholarly pursuits and in the field more broadly, as well as their academic accomplishments to date.
Applicants should submit a cover letter addressed to the Director of SITSA, Dr. Francesca G. Bewer, Research Curator for Conservation and Technical Studies Programs, Division of Academic and Public Programs, Harvard Art Museums. It should include a statement detailing what questions and unique perspective the applicant would bring to the program and a brief explanation of how the program would enrich their work (maximum 1,200 words). The statement should be accompanied by an academic and professional CV, as well as a letter of support from a faculty advisor that addresses the applicant’s academic standing and their interest in the topic.
The application deadline is February 9, and applicants will be notified of selection by March 17.
Please submit application materials in electronic format to francesca_bewer@harvard.edu.
Past Programs
2024 course description
2022 course description (rescheduled from 2020)
2012-2016 course topics and information are available through the NYU Institute of Fine Arts.
Other Resources
Index Magazine: Summer School for Scholars in Training
Watch on Vimeo: SITSA: The Summer Institute for Technical Studies in Art