Meet the Scholarly Skater

The mission of A Scholarly Skater Art History is to make
historical art and architecture accessible to everyone. 

I’m Alexandra, an art historian from the United States. Welcome to my website!

I have a B.A. with honors in art history and truly believe that looking at art can enrich everyone’s life as much as it has mine. Studying the art of the past is the closest to time travel Iโ€™m likely to get, only it’s much safer. Art also helps me to see the world through other people’s eyes – a type of empathy and understanding we could all use a bit more of in our lives.

How this started

After graduating from college in 2012, I knew I wanted to become a professional art historian, but taking the traditional jobs at a university or museum didn’t feel right for me. So I made my own path, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I founded A Scholarly Skater in 2013, and it was originally just a venue to continue doing art history on my own. More than a decade later, the website hosts over 400 articles and a handful of courses that share my ongoing love and growing knowledge of historical art and architecture.

In addition, I have been a regular contributor to DailyArt Magazine and The Collector. My work has also appeared on Art Herstory, Artips, Citaliarestauro, the Questroyal Fine Art blog, HeadStuff, and Joโ€™s Art History Podcast, among others.

Why I do this

Along the way, I’ve come to realize how many people feel perplexed by fine art and intimidated in art museums. This makes me sad, and I don’t think it needs to be this way. After all, making and appreciating visual art is an innate part of human nature, and we spend far more time with images today than ever before – we just call it “media” rather than “art”.

I’ve also noticed that the kinds of resources I seek out for other topics tend to be lacking in art history – reliable content designed for intelligent, capable people who happen not to have a background in a particular subject. So, I’ve made it my mission to make historical art and architecture accessible to everyone. I aim to provide clear explanations of art history’s complexities in plain English, without dumbing them down.

Contact Me

I’m always glad to hear from fellow art lovers! To get in touch with me, email me at alexandra@ascholarlyskater.com. FYI: I am not qualified to tell you if an artwork is authentic, who made it, or its monetary value. Please read my disclaimer for more details.

Why A Scholarly Skater?

You may be wondering about my website title and why it doesn’t relate to art history. I’ve been a figure skater since age five, and I chose this name because I think it perfectly captures both of my main interests.

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39 responses to “Meet the Scholarly Skater”

  1. Alastair Kerr

    Hello Alex, nice to meet you earlier (Sineadโ€™s Dad) , I am very interested in art and architecture and enjoy reading your site, one is never to old to learn (70 next week) whether art or figure skating. Keep up the good work.

    Alastair Kerr

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Hi Alastair: It was really lovely to meet you as well! I’m glad that you enjoyed my site and hope you have a nice rest of your visit. Best, Alexandra

  2. todd forshee

    On Thomas Cole what part of painting like the old masters did he make his own? Have you seen any underpainting in his work

  3. Dianne

    Who knew? A Scholarly Skater w/ love of Gargoyles + Dogs + L’Arts+ Architecture + Gothic and Medieval Arts + Hudson Valley Arts and joyous enthusiasm of visual fine arts OMG! Found you through Daily Art Museum. Enthusiastic and extraordinarily thrilled to find Scholarly Skater,
    that embraces beginners, from the actual museum experience…. the scholarly skater will
    soon enjoy an expresso, or cappuccino, or other of her choice. Did I mention it?
    I LOVE GARGOYLES… hope to see a course on an exploration of Gargoyles of Cathedrals created as part of the building designed during the Medieval period.
    Thank you so much for providing these opportunities to your followers and new comers.
    Dianne

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Hi Dianne:
      Thank you so much for your enthusiastic words. I am glad that you’re enjoying A Scholarly Skater and DailyArt Magazine.
      In regards to your comment about a gargoyles course, you will be pleased to know that I actually am planning a gargoyles-related course through my online school The Art Museum Insider (the-art-museum-insider.teachable.com). I’m not sure when it will come out, but you can check out my Field Guide to Gargoyles in the meantime (https://ascholarlyskater.com/category/gargoyles/field-guide-to-gargoyles/).
      Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you’ll visit again soon.
      Alexandra

  4. noa

    Hi, where can I contact you in order to send a press release?

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Hi there. I’m so sorry that I didn’t respond to this sooner. You can send me a press release at writer to the arts @ gmail.com (no spaces).

  5. Peter Jung

    Hello Alexandra,

    I here’s a link to my Sanford Robinson Gifford project in Hudson, NY. Might be of interest for you…

    http://giffordsgrave-hudson.blogspot.com/

    ~ Cheers, Peter Jung

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Thank you so much for sharing! ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Barry Hodgkins-Wright

    I found your site by pure chance. I have a background in architecture and photography and it’s good to find a site that accommodates both of these. Just sent you a note on gargoyles.

    Regards

    Barry

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Welcome, Barry! Thank you for stopping by!

  7. Claudia Sperlich

    I found your blog when searching for angels – your “grumpy angel” is great! I love medieval art. Thanks for this blog.

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      I, too, love medieval art and grumpy angels. And I’m so glad you’re enjoying my blog. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for stopping by!

  8. Noel Sales Barcelona

    Just stumbled upon your site. Never graduated with an art history degree but I love writing about artists, art history and culture and cultural work. Nice read! Continue to inspire us with your well-written and history-based articles about the arts. Love from the Islands Philippines!

    1. A Scholarly Skater

      Hi Noel. Thanks for stopping by! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my work. Please subscribe and come back soon. ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Stacy di Anna

    Hi there, I have nominated you for a Liebster Award. ๐Ÿ™‚ Don’t feel obligated to post about it, but if you’d like to participate, you can find more details here:https://prayersandpiazzas.com/2016/06/20/a-sweet-award-and-more-about-me/
    Blessings!

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Thank you so much, Stacy! I will definitely participate. ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. Erik Von Norden

    Dear Scholarly Skater:

    Thank you so very much for the “like” of my recent piece, Patron Saint of Ireland, which was posted at First Night History. I enjoyed reading your own site.

    If you found Patron Saint interesting, please feel free to read my blog, bio or a sample chapter at theoryofirony.com. The blog is a teaser for my book, Theory of Irony: How Jesus Led to Moon Golf, now available in print and Kindle formats at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=theory+of+irony.

    Sincerely,

    Erik Von Norden

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Thanks for stopping by!

  11. Stacy di Anna

    Hi there, found you from the reblog on Italian in Italy. I am a former competitive ice skater too! As someone who loves Italy, I’m looking to learn more about art history. Looking forward to more of your posts!

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Hi Stacy! I’m always so happy to meet other skaters on wordpress (and in general). ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog.

      1. Stacy di Anna

        Definitely, and thanks for the follow!

  12. The Liebster Award, or, Becoming Aware of an Internet Tradition | Book and Sword

    […] few weeks ago Alexandra of ascholarlyskater nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thanks Alex! I see that Judith Weingarten won one of these in […]

  13. Thom Hickey

    Thanks Alexandra. This is a fascinating blog. I’m learning as well as being entertained. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox.

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Nice to meet you, Thom! I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog.

      1. Thom Hickey

        Hope you will enjoy the Jukebox also! Thom

  14. Steve Walker

    Hi Alex, I posted one of your O’Murnaghan pictures to a new Celtic Art group on Facebook that seems to be taking off. The forum is a regrouping of an old Yahoo Group that was active for 15 years, but gradually faded away as those things tended to. Have a look https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537431546526680/

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Sounds interesting!! I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for letting me know about it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  15. mbudden

    Hi Alex this is artist Michael Budden writing to thank you for including my art in your post about Guy C Wiggins and paintings of NYC. I enjoy painting NY the most, especially winter scenes and thank you for shedding so light on my work.

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Of course!! I’m always happy to talk about artists whose work resonates with me. ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. petrel41

    Congratulations, dear Alexandra!

    I have nominated your blog for a new award, the Real Neat Blog award.

    More about this nomination is at

    http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/real-neat-blog-award-congratulations-to-the-nominees/

  17. bytetime

    Hi there, thanks for dropping by and liking a post on Geokult-Travel.com. Your blog looks really interesting so am now following ๐Ÿ™‚

    Cheers
    Tracey

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Thanks for following. ๐Ÿ™‚

  18. kecain

    Alexandra, thanks for the follow. I took a look at your Celtic Art articles. Very nice. I was unfamiliar with the Book of Resurrection, and now I need to learn more. Thank you.

    1. ascholarlyskater

      Glad you enjoyed it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. karencomics

    Hi Alexandra, thanks for following my art blog! It looks like we have similar interests (but not skating โ€“ the one time I was on skates I was terrified!), so I’m looking forward to delving into your blog, too.

    1. ascholarlyskater

      I’m glad we’ve met. ๐Ÿ™‚ I really enjoyed looking at your art on your blog.

  20. ascholarlyskater

    Hey there! Thanks for reading. Even before I clicked on your blog, I could tell from screen name and icon that I was really going to enjoy it, too. I’m glad we just met. ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. Deco Domino

    Hi Alexandra, Glad I found your blog. I also love art, architecture and gargoyles, and I used to be a figure skater. Seems like this blog was made for me