Distinguished Alumni: Corine Wegener
"Be flexible! Be prepared to take on that task or project no one else wants; it could be a
chance to demonstrate your ingenuity and even position you for the next big project."
About
This year the Art History Department was pleased to honor Corine Wegener as the recipient of the 2014 Franklin D. Murphy Distinguished Alumni Award. Cori received a Master’s degree first in Political Science from the University of Kansas in 1994, and in 2000 obtained her Master’s degree from KU in the History of Art.
From 1999—just before she completed her History of Art Master’s degree—to 2012, Cori enjoyed an impressive career trajectory at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. In their Department of Decorative Arts, Textiles and Sculptures, she began as a Curatorial Intern and was subsequently hired as a Research Assistant, then Assistant Curator, and finally Associate Curator. In these roles, Cori was responsible for the acquisition, conservation, exhibition, and educational programs related to American and European decorative arts.
Meanwhile, from 1982 through 2004, Cori assumed the responsibilities as a Major (now retired) in the U.S. Army Reserve. These years were concurrent with the time she spent as an undergrad and graduate student, and also concurrent with her curatorial career at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Cori’s mobilizations in the U.S. Army Reserve took her to Germany, Guam, Bosnia and Iraq. In Guam, she coordinated education programs for 5,000 Iraqi Kurdish refugees. In Bosnia, she supervised multiple economic development projects. In Iraq from 2003-2004, Cori served as an Arts, Monuments, and Archives Officer in Baghdad, and military liaison to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture. After theft, looting and destruction had taken place at the Iraq National Museum, Cori assisted law enforcement and museum staff in recovery and reconstruction efforts.
In 2006 Cori founded the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield for which she formerly served as president. The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield is part of the International Blue Shield movement, which was established to support implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Cori served as co-organizer of the Smithsonian Institution’s Haiti Cultural Recovery Project in Port-au-Prince. In that role, she advised the Smithsonian on the post-earthquake recovery of Haitian cultural sites, collections, and organizations.
From late 2012 to the present, Cori has served the Smithsonian Institution as the Cultural Heritage Preservation Officer in the Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. There she has developed the Smithsonian’s long-term role in preserving cultural heritage endangered by natural disasters, armed conflict, and related crises. She has coordinated with national and international partners to develop training programs aimed at reducing risk and mitigating damage to cultural heritage, as well as providing appropriate emergency responses.
Cori’s multi-faceted career and professional contributions have brought great distinction to herself and to her alma mater, the University of Kansas. Her significant work has taken her to countries all over the world, including Egypt, Libya, Mali, Syria, and Haiti. She returned to Lawrence to give her lecture entitled “From Berlin to Baghdad: When Art Historians Go to War” on October 2, 2014.
Corine Wegener kindly agreed to an interview with Chair and Professor, Linda Stone-Ferrier.
I learned a multidisciplinary approach to museum work, combining a variety of courses with practical experience. I worked as a part-time membership assistant in the Spencer Museum, which prepared me for a museum career, including attending board meetings, preparing for exhibition openings, and working with donors. I also received a very broad base of experience in art history, enabling me to work with many types of collections– often a requirement in the decorative arts.
I wish I had learned more about provenance research on collections. I very much hope graduate programs start to offer courses on this topic. It is a fundamental part of collections stewardship, critical to the acquisitions and loan process, and can even become a legal liability for museums when not done properly.
Study what really interests you most. Don’t compromise on that, but also learn some critical skills that will help set you apart in the job market. Also remember that the job you are preparing for may not even exist yet– think strategically!
Unfortunately, many new grads have to balance two or three part-time jobs while pursuing that coveted full-time position. Be flexible! Be prepared to take on that task or project no one else wants; it could be a chance to demonstrate your ingenuity and even position you for the next big project.
While I had studied the terrible impact on World War II on cultural heritage, I was really not prepared when I faced it myself at the Iraq National Museum in 2003. Collections were smashed and looted, offices trashed, and staff demoralized. I finally understood the true impact of permanent loss of our shared history and vowed to do everything I could to help prevent that sort of loss in the future. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing this same type of destruction in numerous countries around the world.
I’ve been very lucky to be able to do a variety of rewarding projects in my career, but I am probably most proud of founding the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield. During my tenure as president we created a training program for U.S. military personnel (basically the 21st-century Monuments Men) and we successfully lobbied for the 2009 U.S. ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the treaty and I’m very proud the U.S. is finally included as an official state party.