Dumbarton Oaks Humanities Fellow, George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum
Kelsey Bogdan graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2019, where she studied Cognitive Neuroscience and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Both fields informing her artistic practice and scholarship, Kelsey went on to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in 2022 from Columbia College Chicago. A recipient of the Albert P. Weisman Award and The Dwight W. Follett Fellowship, her thesis work investigated joy as a tool of resistance in reclaiming bodies, space, and time. Materially focused on adornment, vibrance, and pupil-widening wonder, Bogdan’s studio practice employs immersive hanging sculpture, reflection, light, and softness to both evoke and study safe, celebratory space. With years of experience as an educator in the life sciences as well as the arts and humanities, Bogdan hopes to continue to bridge the gap between the humanities and STEM, integrating neuroscience, healing, and human resistance through her scholarship.