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Molly Superfine: Alumna Continues Her Interest in Art and Art History

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Molly Superfine

Alumnus Molly Superfine is using her global Duke education to shape her passion for art history in her post-graduate life.

Superfine, Trinity ’13, dedicated herself to studying the arts while at Duke and double majored in Spanish. She worked at several museums, studied art abroad and participated in DukeEngage, which inspired an interest in street art.

Currently, Superfine works at Fredericks & Freiser, an art gallery in New York City. She is exploring careers in museums and art galleries before returning to school to pursue a Ph.D. She wants to study global contemporary art, through the lens of feminist theory.

“I went into college knowing I loved art, but not knowing how to make a career out of it,” Superfine said. “Every class I took reaffirmed that this was my passion and what I wanted to do.”

At Duke, Superfine worked at the Nasher Museum of Art. She also did summer internships at several other museums, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art, both in New York City.

Through studying abroad and participating in DukeEngage, Superfine discovered a passion for street art and graffiti. She wrote a thesis on Latina street artists specifically in New York City and Los Angeles.

The summer after her freshman year, Superfine participated in DukeEngage in Colombia, a program that provides funding for students to serve global and local communities. There, she befriended several Colombian architecture students who introduced her to Colombian street art.

“I saw street art everywhere because it became a method of communication for people who didn’t have a voice otherwise,” she said.

Superfine also spent the fall semester of her junior year studying abroad in Madrid, where she explored the underground street art culture and had the opportunity to take classes in the Museo Nacional Del Prado.

“Some people choose a major thinking it will lead them to a specific job, but when you leave college, you realize you're very young and you basically have your whole life in front of you,” she said. “One major won’t lead you in one direction. The number of careers I see now as a post-grad is huge."