Art in Focus

Event

Art in Focus Family Ties Artistic Responses to Love, Loss and Intimacy

Keidra Daniels Navaroli, lecturer

Throughout history, art has served as a profound vehicle for expressing human emotional longing, raw vulnerability, deep-seated grief and the enduring power of connection. Learn how canvas masters like Mary Cassatt, Henry O. Tanner, Gustav Klimt, Norman Rockwell, Dorothea Lange, Grant Wood and others transformed emotional states, from desire and heartbreak to affection and family, allowing viewers to experience the complexities of the human heart. 

Visual art is fundamental to framing not only what we see but how we see it. Drawing from renowned collections and institutions, the Art in Focus lecture series explores a range of critical topics in art today, breaking down concepts, culture and cutting-edge innovations. Join scholar and curator Keidra Daniels Navaroli on an illustrated journey through the “centers” and “margins” of the art world, bringing art — and its connections — into greater focus.

Image: Cassatt, Mary. Self-Portrait. Circa 1180, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Keidra Daniels Navaroli

Keidra Daniels Navaroli

Keidra Daniels Navaroli is an independent curator, thought leader, and McKnight Doctoral Fellow in the Texts and Technology PhD Program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). For over 18 years, her work in arts management, scholarship, and curation has focused on addressing how museums can be utilized to question cultural divisions, foster intergenerational dialogue and enhance the understanding of traditionally underrepresented communities of practice. ​​

​Daniels Navaroli has lectured to audiences across the United States and abroad, including presentations organized by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, Museum Leadership Institute, Florida Association of Museums, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), George Washington University, Parsons School of Design, Surface Design Association, Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC), Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

​​Daniels Navaroli received her master’s degree in history and criticism of art from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Florida. Her curatorial work has been featured in Forbes, Culture Type, and other media outlets. In 2024, she was inducted into UCF's Order of Pegasus, the university's highest academic honor.