Lucia Colombari

PhD Candidate


  • PhD, Art and Architectural History, University of Virginia
  • MA, Art History, University of Bologna
  • MA, Art Administration, Cattolica del Sacro Cuore University, Milan
  • BA, Humanities (focus on Art History), University of Bologna

Lucia Colombari is a PhD Candidate in Art and Architectural History at the University of Virginia. A native of Bologna, Italy, she studies the intersection of international avant-gardes, transatlantic relations, and politics of exhibitions in the twentieth century, with an emphasis on Italian modernism. Lucia’s work couples rigorous academic training with professional competency in museums and cultural heritage, especially in the context of museum practice in Italy and the United States. Her project Italian Futurism and American Modernism: Exhibition Practices, Collecting, and Transnationalism (1909-1929) critically examines the role of international exhibitions in the reception, dissemination, and transformation of Italian Futurism in the United States during the first decades of the twentieth century, positioning it at the center of American artists’ response towards industrialization and modernization. Portions of her research are currently under publication. 

Since joining the PhD program at UVa, Lucia has advanced her curatorial practice by collaborating on numerous exhibitions. Most notably, at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum, she co-curated the exhibit Beyond Dreamings: The Rise of Indigenous Australian Art in the United States and published an essay within the accompanying catalogue. Her work in public engagement also included participating in the Podcasting the Humanities Winter Institute, hosted by the National Humanities Center.

Her research has received generous support from distinguished institutions, including the Getty Research Center, the Italian Art Society, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Lucia has received tremendous support from UVa, including several fellowships from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Society of Fellows, the Raven Society, and others. Most recently, she conducted dissertation research in Europe with the support of the Dumas Malone Graduate Research Fellowship. 

Lucia has extensive teaching experience in higher education in the United States and Italy and is a frequent lecturer. At UVa, she has served as a teaching assistant for Modern Art (1900-1945), Art and Money, Art and Popular Culture, and History of Architecture I, and as the program assistant for the UVA J-Term Education Abroad program in Rome (Italy). In recognition of her contribution to the undergraduate experience at UVa, she was awarded the department’s Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award.

During her time at UVa, Lucia has held numerous committee positions, including Financial Chair for the Graduate Symposium in Art History and Academic Chair for the Art History Graduate Association. Within the broader field of art history, Lucia is currently a committee member for the Italian Art Society. In 2019-2020 Lucia also served as Career and Professional Development Liaison within PhD Plus, “a university-wide initiative to prepare PhD students and Postdoctoral scholars across all disciplines for long-term career success.” She created an alumni database for her department and organized career and professional development workshops tailored to the art and architectural history fields and the job market. She is currently designing the first Graduate Mentorship Program for PhD Candidates in the Art and Architectural History program. 

Prior to joining the University of Virginia, Lucia worked at the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan and the Corriere della Sera Foundation, devoted to preserving and valorizing one of Italy’s oldest and most-read newspapers. In 2014, she was the recipient of an Ivano Becchi Award, which supported her work at the Denver Art Museum.