Armenian Art and The World

GRACE AND PAUL SHAHINIAN ARMENIAN CHRISTIAN ART AND CULTURE LECTURE SERIES

March 26th, 2026

5PM: Location Heritage Hall

Speaker: Dr. Helen C. Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine Art Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Domed churches, intricate sculpted images, elaborately illuminated manuscripts, gilded reliquaries, richly decorated textiles - Armenian art is the multifaceted visual voice of the Armenian people. It defines how Armenians view themselves as well as the important role Armenians played, and still play in the larger world over the centuries. Once studied primarily as a national tradition, this talk shows that Armenian art is also evidence of Armenia's importance to the world and its art. 

Dr. Helen C. Evans, the Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine Art Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, curated the Museum's outstanding 2018 exhibition Armenia! She co-curated Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Museum in 1994 and included Armenian works in her award winning exhibitions at The Met: The Glory of Byzantium (842-1261) in 1997 and Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) in 2004. Her installation of the Met's Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Byzantine Art in 200 displayed Armenian works as exemplars of important East Christian culture on the Empire's border. Dr. Evans has lectured and published widely and taught Armenian art and culture at the University of Chicago and as the Nikit and Elenora Ordjanian Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at Columbia University. In recognition of her contribution to Armenian Studies, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) established the Helen C. Evans Scholarship Fund supporting studying Armenian art, art history, and the early church. The Republic of Armenia recognized her efforts with the Order of Friendship, The Republic of Armenia. His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, presented her with the Order of Saint Sahak – Saint Mesrop, and the Eastern Diocese of the United States recognized her with its "Friend of the Armenians" award. The Prelacy of the Great House of Cilicia presented her with the Mesrop Mastots, Queen Zabel, and Spirit of Armenia awards. Dr. Evans was elected a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 2020. She is chairman of the board of the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture (MJCBAC) and past-president of The International Center for Medieval Art (ICMA) and of the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) and AAMC Foundation. Dr. Evans received her B.A. with Honors from Newcomb College of Tulane University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Her dissertation was on Manuscript Illuminations at the Armenian Patriarchate in Hromkla and the West.