Art History Alumnae Land Jobs at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City

Alyssa Dreliszak and Lauren Peightel graduated from Seton Hill in 2012 with degrees in art history, and now live and work together at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. 

After graduating from Seton Hill, Alyssa earned her master’s degree in museum studies from Seton Hall University (yes, really!) and now works as a project registrar at the Cooper Hewitt, facilitating the digitization of the museum’s entire collection. 

Lauren attended Johns Hopkins University for graduate school, also earning a master’s degree in museum studies. She is now an inventory technician in the museum’s Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design Collection.

Seton Hill has a wonderful Art History Program, which equipped me with skills and knowledge that I use on a daily basis in my career. I also learned a lot about being a leader during my time at Seton Hill with all of the opportunities to be involved in campus organizations. Those leadership skills have been paramount to being successful at what I do. 

- Alyssa Dreliszak (SHU '12)

As roommates and coworkers, Alyssa and Lauren value their time at Seton Hill. They both thank their advisor, Assistant Professor of Art History Maureen Vissat. “Maureen taught me to not just like art, but love it. Her trip to Italy also planted a huge bug to travel. Her classes created a passion for the research to a piece, movement and artist and made me hungry to learn more and more,” said Lauren. 

Photo: Alyssa, left and Lauren, right at the Cooper Hewitt.