Professor

Art

Welcome to the CC Art department! I started my teaching career here in 1995 as a visitor; I then taught at Skidmore College and the University of Denver before joining the CC Art Department permanently in 2003. I offer courses in global art history from the 15^th through the 17^th centuries, known as the Early Modern period. Over the course of my career at CC I have held different positions, including Director of the Crown Center for Faculty Development (2015-16) and Museum Director at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (2016-20). I currently hold the NEH Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities (2024-7).

As an art historian, my field of specialization is northern European and colonial art history in 17^th century. My research focuses on patronage, systems of display, and the history of collecting, as well as issues of trade, cultural exchange, and hybridity in the global Early Modern world. I have published scholarly investigations of the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, the Dutch-Indian trade in art and artists in the early 16^th century, and the art patronage of the House of Orange in the Netherlands in the 17^th century. Other publications, such as my books on symbols in art, Leonardo da Vinci, and museum exhibition catalogs, testify to my belief in art history as an important and vibrant public discourse open to all. Currently, I am researching the foundation of the collections of the Fine Arts Center for a digital humanities project, and investigating the markets for copies of 17^th-century Dutch landscape painting globally.

I was fortunate to be part of the Fine Arts Center during its initial alliance with CC. Serving as Museum Director not only fueled my interest in the role of art history in the public realm, but also continued my further growth and learning in the fields of contemporary art, American art, and Museum Studies. In the Museum Studies track, I teach courses that examine and interrogate the museum as a site for cultural, political, and ideological production. As part of my approach to objects-based learning, my courses often incorporate opportunities for hands-on and direct work in the Fine Arts Center museum and other regional museums. I believe the Block Plan can offer students remarkable opportunities to engage, connect, and deepen their learning; it certainly offers me tremendous opportunities to experiment, innovate, and collaborate as a teacher.

My goal here at CC is to share some of my excitement and interest in the visual arts. Studying art and museums provides profound and important insights into our world, past and present. My work is dedicated to helping students develop critical understanding as well as knowledge of history, theory and practice in the arts. In our increasingly – overwhelmingly! – visual world, the visual arts are astoundingly influential and powerful. My hope is that students in my courses not only enrich their own lives, but also become arts citizens – empowered to participate in the transformative possibilities of the arts in shaping the complex issues of our time.   

Awards

Rebecca is the recipient of the 2011 Ray Werner Award for Exemplary Teaching in the Liberal Arts.  

Regular Classes

• AH 100 Great Monuments in Western Art
• AH 112 Introduction to Art History
• HS 120 Renaissance Culture (FYE)
• AH 221 Art of the Renaissance
• AH223 16th Century Art in Europe
• AH 231 The Age of the Baroque: Art and Empire in the 17th Century
• AH 232 Art of the Dutch Republic