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Art Museum Senior Profile Elizabeth J. Petcu '08
Position: Curatorial assistant
Major: Art history
Minor: Philosophy
Hometown: Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Favorite piece at the museum: A dish made at Iznik, Turkey, under the Ottomans around 1585. I was involved in its acquisition during my sophomore year as part of a final project for an Arts of Islam course. Ottoman trade reached as far as China in the East and Italy in the West, so this object represents a truly international visual dialogue. As a sophomore in high school, Liz Petcu '08 was, as she puts it, "looking for
something interesting to do for the summer." The Longmeadow, Massachusetts, native contacted curator Wendy Watson about volunteering at the Mount Holyoke College Museum of Art. That experience, which Petcu describes as "fantastic," was what inspired her to attend Mount Holyoke. "What made such an impression on me was the way that students, faculty, and staff collaborated and learned from each other," she said. After arriving on campus as a first-year student, Petcu completed a January Term internship at the museum. Since then, she's been employed at the museum every semester and summer except for the semester she spent abroad in Vienna. "Over the years, I've worked with several specific collections. I spent much of my sophomore year and the summer beforehand organizing records of the Museum's Egyptian art collection in preparation for last spring's Excavating Egypt exhibition." Petcu has spent her final year at MHC working with Watson as one of the museum's two student curatorial assistants. Her job involves maintaining records, researching art, publishing information on the museum's online database of objects, and hosting visiting students and scholars. "Lately, I've been working with our recently expanded collection of ancient coins. I'm responsible for ensuring that they are well researched and that complete records are available online," she explained. Though Petcu regards all of her work at the museum as memorable, she says that if she had to isolate one highlight, it would be seeing an item that she helped Mount Holyoke acquire enter the collection. "I'd researched the Iznik dish for a class. So the first time I was able to see students and visitors engage with the dish and appreciate it as I had was something I'll always remember." Petcu--who chairs Mount Holyoke's Society of Art Goddesses--is headed to Princeton University next year to pursue a doctoral degree in the history of art. She will be specializing in central European baroque architecture and ultimately hopes for a career doing the kinds of research she got a taste of at Mount Holyoke. Related Links: At the Museum: An Outstanding Senior Class
By the Numbers: Class of 2008 at the Art Museum
Meet the 11 Art Museum
Seniors
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum  Senior Symposium Video- Featuring Elizabeth J. Petcu '08
Spa
Night at the Art Museum Narrated by Elizabeth J. Petcu '08
Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/story/5570786
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