Levi Higgs is an honors student and a student leader in the School of Art. How did a young man who grew up in Wyoming come to the University of Washington to study art history and discover his true passion while in Rome?
Like many children, Higgs collected objects. His choice of what to collect was shaped by his hometown’s many antique malls and stores. Early on, he became fascinated with the decorative arts. He says, “I have always valued decorative objects as items with very specific and special value that can be completely individualized yet simultaneously able to communicate broad historical themes.”
Coming from a small city of less than 20,000 people, Higgs found Seattle appealing—it was big but not too big. He was also charmed by the beauty of the University of Washington campus. Because of his academic performance in high school, Higgs was accepted directly into the UW Honors Program, and he began taking classes in the Art History program as a freshman. Like all undergraduates majoring in Art History, he has taken classes covering a variety of cultures, periods, and topics. Unlike most majors, as both an interdisciplinary and departmental honors student he must also attend at least one graduate seminar and write two research papers of twenty pages or more. On 01 March 2012, he will be participating in the Art History Honors Student Research Presentations, using research he completed for a seminar paper on Victorian era jewelry. He considers the departmental honors option to be “a wonderful way to get a taste of what further graduate study could be like and to broaden one’s intellectual abilities in a setting that is very supportive throughout the process.”
Higgs also found the Art History Seminar in Rome, co-taught by Associate Professors Estelle Lingo and Stuart Lingo during Spring Quarter 2011, to be “nothing short of perfect.” He said, “Our lectures and discussions held in ancient sites and cathedrals often spilled over into our group lunch conversations, always tying Renaissance or Baroque ideologies to current Italian culture.” One of the truly transformational experiences for Higgs in Rome was an exhibition of Fabergé eggs at the Vatican Museums. It made him realize that his interest in decorative arts was really an interest in the use of gems (precious and semi-precious stones) in the creation of beautiful objects. He now works at Alexandria Rossoff Jewels and Rare Finds as a way to expand his knowledge in this area.
Research is something Higgs has learned to do well while in the Art History program, and he has applied those research skills to investigating graduate school options. Planning to continue his study of gems and decorative arts, and wanting to do that in New York City with its fabulous museum collections, he is applying to three programs: the History of Decorative Arts and Design master’s degree program at Parsons The New School for Design, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and Christie’s Education. His ultimate goal is to work in the field of historical jewelry appraisal and connoisseurship.
The School of Art wishes Levi Higgs much success in graduate school and beyond.