Tessa Paneth-Pollak

Tessa Paneth-Pollak serves as Director of the LookOut! Gallery and other Exhibition Spaces in the Residential College in Arts & Humanities (RCAH) at Michigan State University and is a Core Faculty Member in the Center for Gender in a Global Context at MSU. Previously, she taught for three years in the Art, Art History, & Design department at MSU, bringing extensive experience in both academic and curatorial contexts.

Dr. Paneth-Pollak earned her Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary Art from Princeton University and completed her undergraduate studies with a B.A. in Art History and English from Barnard College. Her academic journey reflects a deep commitment to interdisciplinary approaches at the intersection of art history, gender studies, and cultural criticism.

Her research centers on modern and contemporary art and theory, with particular expertise in prewar European modernism. Dr. Paneth-Pollak is currently completing a book titled Definite Means: Modernism's Cut-Outs, which explores the under-acknowledged device of the cut-out in twentieth-century European art, distinguishing it from the more celebrated innovation of collage. Her second book project, Cuts From Below, investigates how cutting can serve as a gesture of intervention in social and power relations, focusing on contemporary American artists Kara Walker, Mark Bradford, and Robert Hodge.

Dr. Paneth-Pollak's scholarly output spans academic journals like Art History and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians alongside accessible cultural criticism for local publications. Her writing demonstrates remarkable range from rigorous analysis of modernist artists to community-focused journalism, reflecting her commitment to making art historical knowledge accessible beyond traditional academic circles.

• Princeton University Fellowship
• Stiftung Arp Fellowship

As a founding member of the Feminist Art & Architecture Collaborative (FAAC), Dr. Paneth-Pollak has developed feminist pedagogical approaches through collaborative scholarship. She has curated numerous exhibitions including "Nancy Plum: Studio Potter" and "Michael Darough: The Talk," demonstrating her commitment to showcasing diverse artistic voices and social justice issues. Her work at the RCAH LookOut Gallery provides vital exhibition space for emerging artists while her role in the Center for Gender in a Global Context allows her to contribute to interdisciplinary conversations about gender across cultural contexts.