Tania Kolarik

M.A., 2015, Art History
Doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Wisconsin

Exhibition News Update: Tania Kolarik has co-curated the upcoming exhibition "Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives" at the Haggerty Museum of Art on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. The exhibition will be open Aug. 23-Dec. 21, 2024, and you can find more information on the Haggerty Museum web page. Kolarik co-curated the exhibition with fellow University of Wisconsin-Madison Art History Ph.D. Candidates Abby Armstrong Check and Claire Kilgore.

Tania Kolarik has been awarded a 2024 Samuel H. Kress Foundation Special Mobility Grant to attend the 36th Congrès du Comité International d'Historie de l'Art (CIHA) in Lyon, France, in June 2024. Kolarik is writing her dissertation about late medieval art and architecture in Italy. While at UNT she was advised by Professor Emerita Mickey Abel.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I spent my first 10 years living in the rural, unincorporated Czech-Polish community of Eastgate, Texas, after which I moved to Baytown, Texas, outside of Houston. In my senior year of high school, I took an advanced placement art history course at Robert E. Lee Senior High School that sparked a love of art history.

However, after graduating from high school, I pursued a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University with a minor in Art and Architectural History, where I graduated in 2013.
While at A&M, I was wholly miserable and changed course to become an art historian. I applied, was accepted, and enrolled in the M.A. program at UNT in Fall 2013.

In 2015, I completed my Master of Arts in Art History from the University of North Texas under the advisement of Professor Mickey Abel, now retired, and Professor Paula Lupkin, with a minor in Roman History, with Professor Christopher Fuhrmann.

My M.A. thesis focused on imperial and liturgical processions and their impact on the mosaics of the Late Antique church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. My research resulted in the publication of my article, "Vision of the Afterlife: The Heavenly Jerusalem of Santa Maria Maggiore," Athanor 34 (2016):7-15.

After working as an adjunct professor and student coordinator for the former Department of Art Education and Art History in CVAD, I began my Ph.D. program in medieval art and architectural history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017.

Currently, my dissertation, "Clothing the Commune: The Culture of Textiles in the Long 14th-Century," examines the central role of textiles within Italian Trecento culture, especially the influence of Islamic, Byzantine, Mongol, and Italian textiles on the art and architecture of Italian cities. This examination requires reframing 14th-century art and architecture by placing textiles at the center of Italian society as the primary lens through which to view the Trecento world. This project will provide a complete picture of the complex societal culture of the Italian Trecento.

I also consider the role of gender and social class in the production and reception of these textiles within medieval Italian cityscapes. I have (or will have) presented my research at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan; International Medieval Congress in Leeds, United Kingdom; Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting, Congrès du Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art (CIHA), in Lyon, France; Mid-America Medieval Association Conference, Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies, European Studies Conference, and Texas Medieval Association Conference, among others.

I am also the current assistant editor for the International Center for Medieval Art newsletter (2021-24), a member of the ICMA Digital Resources Committee (2021-24), the Volume 5: Cartography in the 19th Century Pre-Press Editor at The History of Cartography Project at UW-Madison, the Social Media Coordinator for the Department of Art History, and a graduate associate with the Center for Culture, History, and Environment.

In 2025, I will have my first peer-reviewed article, "Reflecting a Woven Identity: The Global Textile Trade and Two Lucchese Church Façades," published in the journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles, along with a chapter in the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textiles, vol. 4, Colour.

Has there been a defining moment in your professional career or a particular moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory?

I spent too much time in high school and my undergraduate career trying to be the person I thought everyone wanted me to be instead of figuring out what was best for me. Focusing on others' preferences resulted in getting an undergraduate degree in biomedical science and being so unhappy with every minute of it — apart from my art and architectural minor coursework. I credit my Texas A&M professors, Stephen Caffey and Gabriela Campagnol, for being so supportive and suggesting applying to UNT for the M.A. program in Art History.

Upon arriving at UNT, my experiences only reinforced that this decision was right for my life and career goals. All my professors at UNT supported me, especially my advisors, Mickey Abel, Paula Lupkin, and Christopher Fuhrmann. I would also not be as successful at the University of Wisconsin-Madison without the help of our administrative staff, Belinda Reyes.

I cannot express enough gratitude for how much UNT, CVAD, and the Art History and Art Education professors helped me become the art historian I am today.

Parents often need to be more skeptical about having their child major in an art or design-related field. Was that true for you? What did you do to change their mind?

Yes, I had to be miserable in my undergraduate education and try something new at UNT, where I was so happy to begin to change my parents' minds.

As we grow up, we are often told that we can only succeed by pursuing a science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or STEM degree. Art and design degrees can open many opportunities in fields that require critical thinking and creative solutions to problems. I have personally used the art historical skills I've learned at UNT to restructure how the Department of Art History at UW-Madison approaches its social media, small-dollar donations, and the public face of their interactions with the community. My passion is to pursue a professorship in medieval art and architecture upon graduating from UW-Madison. Still, I also know that the foundational skills I learned at UNT could propel me into a lucrative career in the private sector if I so choose.

Do you have advice for others interested in pursuing a similar career path to your own?

My advice is to put all of yourself into the pursuit and work on mentally and emotionally managing criticism, being told no, and being knocked down. Challenges happen in academia and life, but you must fight and get back up.

If you don't get into graduate school the first time, try again next year. If you don't get a grant or scholarship you applied for, apply for more. If you are unhappy, do not hesitate to get professional mental help. Do not be afraid to ask for help. We all need help; no one knows everything, and if they act like they do, avoid those people because they are not authentic. Overall, failing and being rejected is part of the game; when that happens, you must rework what you've done and try again.