Ava Mira Robles
Ava Mira Robles studies Byzantine and Central European jewelry, ornament and adornment from the 9th through the 13th centuries. Her research interests include the religious and social dynamics of the jewelry design of the Kyivan Rus’ — particularly focusing on the interaction between jewelry, scent, and iconography in Kyivan Rus’ temple pendants. Her current MA thesis highlights the multi-sensory aspects of such jewelry items and their larger roles in the princely social fabric of Kyivan Rus’.
Previously, Ava held positions a Casa del Herrero, a U.S. national landmark and historic house museum in Montecito, California and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During the summer of 2024, Ava worked with Columbia University’s Art History and Archaeology Department conducting provenance research for approximately 130 artworks and objects gifted by Lola L. Szaldits now in Columbia’s Art Properties collection.
Previously, she held internships at UCSB’s Art, Design, and Architecture Museum and at the J. Paul Getty Museum as the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Curatorial Intern where she curated the online interactive focus exhibition on Edgar Degas’ pastel Waiting titled The Artist’s Method: Degas’ Waiting still on-view here: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/lgURTnSt923DXQ
In 2021, Ava received two B.A.s from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Art History with an emphasis in Museum Studies and a B.A. in Religious Studies with a focus in Ancient Near Eastern and Abrahamic religions.