Training

Provenance Research Today: Issues, Resources and Networks

Hybrid Training Program

• Program Summary

  The program includes:

  • Interactive lectures and discussions with field experts including historians, provenance researchers, attorneys, museum professionals, and art market representatives
  • Information on archival and library resources in the United States and abroad 
  • Workshops on writing provenance narratives, transparency, and public engagement
  • Legal and ethical dimensions of stewardship related to antiquities and archaeological objects, items from Native American and Indigenous communities, and art stolen and sold under duress in the Nazi era
  • Art recovery from the perspective of claimants 
  • Keynote address by Dr. Patty Gerstenblith, Distinguished Research Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law at DePaul University
  • Case study analysis presented by Mac Coyle, Provenance Fellow at the Denver Art Museum
  • Certificate students complete written and oral assignments, using resources discussed throughout the week
  • Confirmed speakers include:
    • Anne Dunn-Vaturi, Senior Provenance Researcher, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
    • Anna Rubin, Director, Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York Department of Financial Services
    • Judith Barr, Curatorial Assistant, Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum
    • Laura Elliff Cruz, Head of Collections, School for Advanced Research
    • Daniel Healey, Provenance Research Specialist, Worcester Art Museum
    • Carlee Forbes, Associate Curator of African and Oceanic Art, Baltimore Museum of Art
    • Jacques Schuhmacher, Executive Director of Provenance Research, The Art Institute of Chicago
    • Randolph J. "Randy" Deaton IV, Security Officer, BOM Bank, and retired FBI Special Agent and FBI Art Crime Team member
    • Getty Research Institute
• Application Requirements and Timeline

  Application Requirements 

  • Complete the application form (fillable pdf) linked below: 

    • 2025 Certificate Application

  • Attachments requested in the application form include: 

  • Transcript(s) of higher education completed or in progress thus far, or an essay explaining equivalent experience 

  • Abbreviated CV or résumé, including relevant education and professional experience (not to exceed 2 pages)  

  • An essay addressing the following questions (in up to 1000 words): Why would you like to participate in this training program, and what do you hope to gain from it? How has your previous academic and/or work experience shaped your commitment to the ethical stewardship of objects? How do you envision applying these skills in future work positions? 

  • After filling out the application form, please send it with your transcript, CV or résumé, and essay in a single pdf file to ahss.ace@du.edu with the subject line "Last Name First Name - Application"

  • One recommendation form and letter of recommendation to be sent directly from the referrer to ahss.ace@du.edu with the subject line “Last Name First Name – Reference"

  • The recommendation form can be downloaded here: 

  2025 Recommendation Form.docx (146.94 KB)

   

  Application Timeline 

  • Applications accepted through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (UTC-6) on Sunday, March 23, 2025.

  • Notifications of acceptance in mid-April. Twenty certificate students will be accepted.

  • Program dates: Arrival on campus and dorm check-in on Sunday afternoon, June 22. All-day program Monday, June 23 – Friday, June 27. Dorm check-out Saturday morning, June 28. 

  Certificate program fee: $1,500 

  The program fee includes: 

  • Lodging in an upscale, apartment-style dormitory with single bedrooms 

  • Meals, including welcome reception and final banquet 

  • Transportation locally to the Denver Art Museum 

  • Certificate tuition 

  • Students pay for travel costs to and from Denver

• Qualifications for Certificate Program 

  • A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required. Applicants are welcome to explain equivalent experience in the application essay.  

  • We welcome applications from graduate students and emerging professionals with various backgrounds, including, but not limited to art history, museum studies, anthropology, cultural studies, history, religious studies, and library and information science.  

  • We encourage participation from minoritized communities and staff at academic museums and galleries, who are poised to help train the rising generation of museum and art market professionals.

• Schedule and Online (Non-Certificate) Attendance

  For seamless and secure program delivery, we are using the OpenWater virtual conferencing platform.  

  Anyone may register to attend hybrid sessions online, as a “non-certificate student,” for a modest daily fee. Session recordings will be available to all registrants until May 2026. Recordings will be available about a week after the end of the program. 

  There is no charge for the streamed sessions at the Denver Art Museum on Thursday, June 26. 

  Online attendance (non-certificate) registration details and the program schedule will be available in April 2025.