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Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw on the future of Cuban politics, economy, and art
A larger building flies the Cuban flag. A sign in front says "Cuba"

The Hotel Nacional, owned by the state-run chain Gran Caribe, is a tourism anchor in the el Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. (Image: Yuting Gao, Pexels)

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw on the future of Cuban politics, economy, and art

On April 19, Raúl Castro stepped down from his role as the head of Cuba’s communist party. Penn Today talked with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts & Sciences about the future of Cuban politics, the economy, and art after the close of the Castro era.

Kristina Linnea García

Monument Lab app expands space and time at Art Museum steps
A digital image of Ursula Rucker standing at the base of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps with three people walking behind her.

The OverTime app features poet and artist Ursula Rucker at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Image: Courtesy Monument Lab)

Monument Lab app expands space and time at Art Museum steps

OverTime, a new augmented reality app that weds public art and history in a personal visual format gives users access to interactive, self-guided tours of public spaces, and invites users to add stories of their own.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Julie Nelson Davis named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow
Julie Nelson Davis smiles for portrait outside her office

Julie Nelson Davis, a history of art professor in the School of Arts & Sciences, has been named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in the fine arts research humanities category. Considered a foremost authority on Japanese prints and illustrated books, she teaches a wide range of courses on East Asian art and material culture.

Julie Nelson Davis named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow

Considered a foremost authority on Japanese prints and illustrated books, the history of art professor teaches a wide range of courses on East Asian art and material culture.

Louisa Shepard

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw puts the nation’s first ladies on display
professor standing in front of a painting in a museum gallery

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, associate professor of history of art, was the curator of the exhibition "Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States" at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery. Shaw returned to Penn this semester after serving as the Gallery's senior historian and director of history, research, and scholarly programs.

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw puts the nation’s first ladies on display

As curator of the first comprehensive exhibition on first ladies at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw weaves her scholarship into the stories of the women who supported U.S. presidents while in the White House.

Louisa Shepard

The unbridled brilliance of Julian Abele
julian abele and his architecture class

The unbridled brilliance of Julian Abele

The 1902 graduate of the architecture program is finally starting to receive credit for his vast and iconic portfolio, which includes the central branch of the Free Library, Penn’s President’s House, Harvard’s flagship library, and more than 30 spaces and places on Duke’s campus.
Mantha Zarmakoupi brings history to the surface
Grid of underwater images with data indicating depth and time period.

Mantha Zarmakoupi brings history to the surface

The Morris Russell and Josephine Chidsey Williams Assistant Professor in Roman Architecture conducts underwater surveys to map ancient travel and political intrigue.

Blake Cole

John Singer Sargent’s secret muse

John Singer Sargent’s secret muse

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the practice of updating information about well-known artworks in museum wall labels and catalogs. “Curators and art historians have been interested in trying to reveal more—in part because there’s more interest in having a robust understanding of the past,” she said.

A friendship born through marginalization
abele and magaziner at the art museum

A friendship born through marginalization

At the turn of the 20th century, Julian Abele and Louis Magaziner—a Black man and an immigrant Jew—were standouts in Penn’s School of Fine Arts about to launch distinguished careers in architecture. They were also beginning what would be a lifelong friendship. A Magaziner descendant and Abele admirer investigates what brought them together.

Amy Cohen