Or Vallah

PhD Candidate, Art History

Education

PhD Art History, the University of Washington, 2025
Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies, the University of Washington, 2023
MA, Art History, Tel Aviv University, 2016
BA, Art History and History, Ben-Gurion University Of The Negev, 2013
Contemporary Curatorial Practices, Ben-Gurion University Of The Negev, 2012

Biography

I earned my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Art History, along with a certificate in Disability Studies at the University of Washington (2025). My dissertation, (Dis)ability and the Making of the Early Modern Artist, draws on diverse sources, including paintings, prints, drawings, published biographies, autobiographies, a private diary, treatises on art, and poetry. Through the contextual interpretation of these sources, my research reveals how artists represented their corporeality and embodiment in their writing, artworks, and notions about art-making. This research pioneers a new reading of fluidity as a defining characteristic of (dis)ability in early modern art, where it manifests not only in the subjects' experiences but also in the artistic techniques and media employed. By highlighting the fluidity between techniques and media as a hallmark of (dis)ability in early modern art, this study paves the way for a nuanced understanding of (dis)ability aesthetics in the early modern world, contributing valuable insights to ongoing scholarly efforts to define disability aesthetics. Before joining the University of Washington, I gained experience in museum and public-facing cultural work at the Negev Museum of Art in Beer-Sheva, the Ilana Goor Museum in Jaffa, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

I am a co-founder and organizer of the Dismantling the Canon Graduate Research Cluster. My service experience at UW includes the School of Arts' Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee (DEIA) and the Arts and Sciences Advisory Council for Students (ASACS), which advises the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. While at UW, I was selected as a recipient of several awards, including the national AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship and the UW Presidential Dissertation Fellowship. I have presented my research at several conferences, including the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America and the CAA.