Travelling around the world had given Leah Clark (BA Honours ’04) the inspiration to study art history.
Leah’s interest for art history started in her early childhood.
“My parents ran a sail training organisation and by the age of 13, I had sailed around the world three times, covering Central and South America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, both east and west coasts of the United States and Canada in addition to other journeys taking me to Asia and Europe.”
Throughout the various voyages of her childhood Leah was exposed to a variety of art forms around the world, including Rajput painting ateliers in India, Mola embroidery in Panama, Mayan excavations in Honduras, Moai statuary and cave painting on Easter Island, Gauguin’s studio in the Marquesas, and numerous museums and art galleries around the globe.
Through these voyages Leah became interested in how different cultures employed diverse visual languages to express themselves. She also became aware that there were many factors (such as political, economic, and social) that played a role in the production of any art object. By the time Leah graduated from high school she was interested in pursuing these interests further and decided to take some art history courses in France. While studying abroad, she took a weekend trip to Florence and was inspired by the art she found there. Leah decided to return to Canada and start a degree in Art History pursuing her interests in the Italian Renaissance at UBC.
Leah became involved in the UBC Art History department, acting as Student Representative for her last two years and joined the Fine Art Student Society. She took a variety of Art History courses and each one affected her in a different way.
“The professors who had a direct impact on me include Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe, Maureen Ryan, Katherine Hacker and my Honours Supervisor, Rose Marie San Juan,” says Leah, “and the courses I took with these professors taught me how to analyse not only visual works of art, but politics and culture as well, providing me with a strong theoretical background.”
Leah’s professors at UBC encouraged her to follow her schooling further, and after completing her BA Honours in Art History Leah moved to London to pursue her Masters at the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London, completing her degree in 2005.
Leah is now currently pursuing her PhD at McGill University. Her focus is on the studioli of female court collectors in the fifteenth century with special attention to the collections of Eleonora D’Aragona, Ippolita Sforza, and Aloysia Gonzaga Castiglione. Her project will explore the ways women were able to create their own networks within court society through the acquisition of precious objects, ranging from manuscripts and paintings to gems and antiquities.
