Gloria Bell: Relationships between Indigeneity and the Vatican

Graduate and Postdoctoral StudiesGraduate School

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As a Terra Foundation for American Art Doctoral Fellow, Gloria is currently completing a summer residency in France. Using the 1925 Pontifical Missionary Exhibition in Rome, she is studying the relationships between the Vatican and Indigenous arts.

Research topic Relationships between Indigeneity and the Vatican

Faculty Faculty of Arts

Program Doctor of Philosophy in Art History (PhD)

Research supervisor(s) Coll Thrush

Country Canada

Selected Award(s) Vanier Scholarship

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?

I wanted to continue my research interests in art history and expand my comprehension of the discipline as well as learn more about other research areas such as anthropology and Indigenous studies.

Why did you decide to study at UBC?

I wanted to challenge myself by pursuing a graduate program outside of my home province and expand my horizons. I’ve also enjoyed auditing classes through the First Nations Studies program and the Italian Studies program.

What was the best surprise about UBC or life in Vancouver?

There are hints of Indigenous presence everywhere around UBC and within Vancouver. You never know when you might see a reminder of the resilience of Indigenous peoples. I also love being able to walk at the beach in every season.

What aspect of your graduate program do you enjoy the most or are looking forward to with the greatest curiosity?

I enjoy the freedom of independent research and writing. I am looking forward to the challenge of doing research at the Vatican.

There are hints of Indigenous presence everywhere around UBC and within Vancouver. You never know when you might see a reminder of the resilience of Indigenous peoples.

How do you feel your program is preparing you for those challenges?

I have learned to be very proactive in my research and graduate program. Pursuing a PhD means you have to be your own best advocate and believe in yourself.

What aspects of your life or career before now have best prepared you for your UBC graduate program?

My comprehension of the field of art history has benefitted from my experiences inside and outside the classroom. I’ve had a variety of amazing experiences such an interning at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico and working as a web editor for the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective. Through these experiences I’ve met many dedicated and passionate curators, artists, scholars and cultural workers that have really inspired me and encouraged me to pursue my graduate degree.

What do you like to do for fun or relaxation?

I like bird-watching at the many beautiful parks in Vancouver.

What advice do you have for new graduate students?

Apply for everything and never give up!

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Learn more about Gloria's research

My dissertation will focus on the 1925 Pontifical Missionary Exhibition, specifically the Exhibition’s Hall of Americas, which held over 4,000 objects including photographs, sculptures, textiles and wax-mannequin displays. The visual culture (art and cultural belongings) in the Hall of the Americas, and the overall experience of the exhibition, were used to establish faith, hope, and also security in the Catholic Church during the tumultuous years following the First World War. My methodology draws on approaches in art history, Indigenous studies and material culture.

This research will help understand the entwined histories of Indigenous peoples of North America and Catholic Missionaries. It will also unpack the political resonances between the globalizing messaging of the Vatican exhibition, the state of the Roman Catholic Church, and broader political transformations in Italy during the early Fascist period.

Thus far my research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and anthologies, and has been presented across North America and the United Kingdom. My research interests have strongly benefited from experience working in a diversity of museums and galleries in Canada and the United States. I have Métis, Cree, and Euro-Canadian ancestry.

Gloria Bell