Migrations Announces New Community College Faculty Fellow

The Migrations initiative has awarded the 2023 community college fellowship to Mary Delmastro, assistant professor at Finger Lakes Community College. As a fellow, she will enhance her curriculum on racism, dispossession, and migration.

Mary Delmastro

Assistant professor of visual and performing arts, Finger Lakes Community College

Mary Delmastro’s project, "Out of Place: Exploring the Changing Identity of the Art Object," considers the many circumstances under which art has changed hands—for example, being looted or removed in times of unrest, adopted by new cultures as borders change, or taken forcibly as a means to display political power. How does the meaning or identity of an art object change when viewed in a new setting or by a different culture?

With this fellowship, Delmastro will expand an existing course, "A Global Introduction to Art," to include a module which centers on this question and focuses on examples of material culture that have been displaced due to colonialism. Students will also consider the value of the recent examples of art repatriation by American and European art institutions.