(Re-)Forming Sculpture Conference awarded Paul Mellon Centre educational grant

(Re-)Forming Sculpture Conference awarded Paul Mellon Centre educational grant

The (Re-)Forming Sculpture conference, a summer symposium organised by the Association for Art History in partnership with the University of Leeds, has been awarded a Paul Mellon Centre educational grant.

The grant will be used to fund free conference places for PhD students and Early Career Researchers, in addition to a networking reception at The Hepworth Wakefield.

(Re-)Forming Sculpture is is a two-day annual conference on 26 & 27 June 2018 which will highlight current doctoral and early career research in the field of sculpture, within its widest art historical remits. The summer symposium is organised by the Doctoral and Early Career Research Network on behalf of the Association for Art History.

Taking place at the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds and The Hepworth Wakefield, this conference hopes to unite the academic and curatorial disciplines of sculptural studies.

The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art offers a variety of grants which support scholarship, academic research and the dissemination of knowledge in the field of British art history. This year’s organisers, Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth (a PhD student in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds) and Clare Nadal (University of Huddersfield and The Hepworth Wakefield), recently applied for a Paul Mellon Centre educational grant to enhance conference activities and to open up free places to PhD students and researchers.

Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth, who recently took over as Chair of the Doctoral and Early Career Research Network for the Association of Art History, said:

“We are very pleased that the Paul Mellon Centre has decided to support this exciting conference by giving (Re-)Forming Sculpture an educational grant.

“Their contribution will go towards funding the Networking Wine Reception at The Hepworth Wakefield and, most importantly, it will enable us to offer ten free conference places with £30 towards travel costs for current PhD and Early Career Researchers. These bursary places will be offered on a competitive basis to enable researchers to attend who otherwise would be unable due to financial struggles.

“This two-day conference is designed by and for the benefit of PhD researchers and Early Career Researchers. It offers a platform for participants and delegates to share their research, and to network and lay groundwork for future collaborations, supporting their development as researchers and enhancing their professionalism.

“We are looking forward to receiving the final few abstracts before the call for papers closes at midnight on Friday March 2018.”

Keynote speakers for the conference include Martina Droth (Deputy Director of Research, Exhibitions and Publications | Curator of Sculpture, Yale Center for British Art) and Dr Rebecca Wade (Assistant Curator (Sculpture), Leeds Museums and Galleries, based at the Henry Moore Institute). Rebecca gained her doctorate at the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds in 2012.

See here for more information about the conference, including the call for papers.