Alumna's transformative gift supports pioneering research in art history and AI

The gift will fund the Klesch Postdoctoral Fellowship in History of Art and Technology over the next two years, creating an opportunity for an outstanding early-career researcher to explore how artificial intelligence, immersive technologies and digital methods are transforming the study of art history. During the Fellowship, the successful researcher will develop an original programme of work, publish significant scholarly outputs and engage audiences through public lectures, workshops and events.

Working across Birkbeck's Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology, the Centre for Creative AI and the Immersive Learning Centre, the successful applicant will collaborate with researchers from across the arts, humanities and computer science while helping shape new approaches to understanding artworks, collections and cultural heritage.

Applications will be welcomed from researchers investigating any aspect of art history from the Early Renaissance through to the twentieth century, with projects expected to combine rigorous historical scholarship with innovative methodologies such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, digital heritage, immersive technologies and computational analysis.

The Fellowship has been established through the generosity of A. Gary and Dr Anita Klesch, founders of The Klesch Collection, a growing collection of European paintings from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. For Dr Anita Klesch, the gift also represents a lasting investment in the institution that shaped her own academic journey. After completing an MA in Computer Applications for History of Art at Birkbeck in 1999, she returned to earn a PhD in History of Art in 2012. The Fellowship reflects her longstanding interest in bringing together art historical scholarship and digital innovation.

Dr Anita Klesch said: “We wanted to create a Fellowship that would give talented early-career researchers the opportunity to pursue ambitious ideas and help shape the future of art historical research. Birkbeck played an important role in my own academic journey, and Gary and I find it a privilege to support the next generation of scholars. Art history is entering an exciting new era, where emerging technologies are opening up fresh ways to explore, understand and share our cultural heritage."

The Klesch Postdoctoral Fellowship will be supervised by Dr Joel McKim, Reader in Digital Media and Culture and Director of the Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology.

Professor Sally Wheeler, Vice-Chancellor of Birkbeck, said: "We are immensely grateful to Gary and Dr Anita Klesch for this generous gift and for the confidence they have placed in Birkbeck's research community. Their philanthropy will create an exceptional opportunity for an early-career researcher while strengthening our ability to explore new approaches to art history through collaboration and innovation.

“Supported by Birkbeck's outstanding research environment, including our outstanding Centre for Creative AI and Immersive Learning Centre, the Klesch Postdoctoral Fellowship will help ensure that talented researchers have the resources, expertise and freedom to pursue ambitious ideas with real academic and public impact."