People

Director, Center for Virtual/Material Studies
Associate Professor of Art History

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Office: 208 Borland
Email: skr10@psu.edu
Profile page: arts.psu.edu/faculty/sarah-rich/

Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in History of Art (Yale University)
B.A. in Art History and Comparative Literature (Northwestern University)

Dr. Rich specializes in art after 1940, with particular emphasis on art produced in the United States and France during the 1950s and 60s. Her current book project, forthcoming with the University of California Press, is titled Past Flat: Other Sides to American Abstraction in the Cold War. The book addresses the often unintended overlaps between mid-century consumer culture and the abstract painting produced by figures like Barnett Newman, Ellsworth Kelly, and Kenneth Noland. Research for that project has been supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Getty Research Institute, as well as by Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities. While completing her book about American abstraction, Dr. Rich has begun research for a second book about Jean Dubuffet’s collaborations with other artists. Dr. Rich has recently delivered papers at the National Gallery in Washington, MIT, Yale University, Harvard University, the Institute of Fine Arts, and the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. She is a frequent contributor to Artforum, and her scholarly publications have appeared in American Art, Art Bulletin, October, Perspective, and the Oxford Art Journal, as well as in many exhibition catalogues and compendia of essays.

Associate Director, Center for Virtual/Material Studies
Digital Humanities Librarian, Penn State University Libraries

Pronouns: he/him/his
Office: 241 Borland and W323 Pattee Library
Email: jer308@psu.edu
Profile page: libraries.psu.edu/directory/jer308

Manager, Center for Virtual/Material Studies

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Office: 215 Borland
Email: cjl8@psu.edu

M.A. in Art History (Dartmouth College)
B.A. in Art History (Columbia University)
A.A. in Art (Nassau Community College, Garden City, New York)

Carolyn Lucarelli manages the Center for Virtual/Material Studies (formerly the Visual Resources Centre) in the Department of Art History. Before coming to Penn State, she was assistant museum librarian in the Photograph and Slide Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and assistant curator of visual resources in the Department of Art History at Dartmouth College. Her M.A. thesis was titled “Between Matter and Spirit: The Art of Betye Saar.” Carolyn is an active member of the Visual Resources Association (VRA), and has served in a variety of roles over the years, including VRA Bylaws Review Committee member, chair of the VRA Nominating Committee, VRA Education Committee member, VRAF (Visual Resources Association Foundation) Board of Directors, VRAF Internship Award Selection Committee member, curriculum specialist for the ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute (SEI), and most recently, co-chair of the VRA Identity Task Force. She received two VRA Travel Awards in 2000 and 2004 and was the recipient of a 2005 Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Staff Award for Outstanding Service.

Research Assistant, Center for Virtual/Material Studies

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Office: 214 Borland
Email: cda122@psu.edu

M.L.I.S. Master of Library and Information Science (University of Pittsburgh)
B.A. in International Politics (Pennsylvania State University)

Prior to joining the then VRC in fall 2007, Catherine worked in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library at Penn State. She oversees and documents research in the Center, maintains supplies and equipment, and provides lab and research support to both faculty and students. She is experienced in data curation, dataset creation, Adobe products, text analysis and various Digital Art History tools. Catherine is an active member of the Visual Resources Association (VRA) and is currently serving as the Chapter Chair for the VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter and serves on the VRA Travel Awards Committee. She is the Department of Art History representative on the College Safety Committee and the Educational Resources, Information Systems and Technology (ERIST) Committee. In 2018 Catherine served as the Chair of the College of Arts and Architecture Staff Advisory Council. She was the recipient of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Staff Award for Outstanding Service in 2016 and 2023.