Alumna Receives Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome

Kianja Strobert '98 has been named a recipient of the 2026–27 Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome. Fellowship winners are selected annually by independent juries of artists and scholars and are provided with dedicated time, space, and community to advance their work in Rome beginning in September.

“It is such a joy to be breaking new ground in the arts,” says Strobert, who will use the fellowship to study the network of Madonnelle shrines located on hundreds of Rome’s intersections. She will explore how these structures create unique experiences for each viewer, inviting reflection, imagination, and connection. This research expands her ongoing exploration of the vignette as a space where tactile experience, ephemerality, imagery, and objects are intertwined.

Strobert is an Assistant Professor in the department of art, film, and visual studies at Harvard University. She shares, “I am additionally fortunate to be the first African-American tenure-track professor in my department, and I was the first Brearley girl accepted to The Cooper Union.” Strobert notes that the Prize has been a dream since she was a student at Brearley, and says, “Mrs. Thompson [former art teacher] would see how full circle this is!”

When asked to share advice for current Brearley students interested in pursuing the visual arts, Strobert offered, “Don't despair if the journey does not move in a straight line. Rebounding from the detours and challenges, which are sure to come, will show you how capable and creative you are.”

Read the full announcement on the American Academy of Rome’s website.