New SVS Alumni Loren Macon named Blakemore Kingfisher Fellow

Loren Macon, a graduating M.A. Student in Art History, will be heading to Seoul, South Korea, as a 2026-2027 recipient of the Blakemore Kingfisher Fellowship.  

Blakemore Kingfisher Fellowships, granted through the Blakemore Foundation, are awarded to those who have demonstrated intent to pursue an academic career in Chinese and Korean art history before the 20th century. Fellows are granted funding for nine to twelve months of full-time intensive language study in Chinese or Korean in East Asia. 

The fellowship will not only support the advancement of Macon’s language skills but also her central research question: how traditional Korean dress operates as a visual language that shapes how pre-modern and early-modern Korea was seen, interpreted, or misunderstood. Her M.A. thesis, titled “Fabricated Korea: Dress, Portraiture, and the Western Construction of the ‘Korean’”, focused on examining the portraits of Koreans created by Western artists from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and how dress is not a reliable site for identity communication in intercultural contexts, often leading to incomplete representations of the Korean sitter. She hopes to continue exploring this topic and other marginalized works excluded from the Korean art historical canon.

For Macon, the fellowship represents a significant milestone in her development as a scholar of Korean visual and material culture. “I am honored to be named one of the two recipients of the Blakemore Kingfisher Fellowship,” said Macon. “This will be my third time traveling to South Korea and my longest stay yet. I hope to not only expand my language skills, but also explore more of the country, culture, and  forms of art that are not readily viewable in the Midwestern museums.” Macon has previously studied abroad at Korea University and was a recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship, granted by the U.S. Department of State, for Korean in 2022.  

Macon will be attending Sogang University’s Korean Language Education Center later this fall.

Macon also expressed gratitude to those who supported her throughout the application process.” I would like to thank Dr. Kristin Schwain and Dr. Anne Stanton for their letters of recommendation and support through the application process. I would also like to thank Dr. Claire Syler and Lauren Pike, an advisor in the Office of Global and National Fellowships, for their invaluable feedback and encouragement on my personal statement as well.”