Elizabeth Provost

Visual arts journalist

Arts & Culture Media

Liz Provost is a visual arts journalist and editor based in Toronto, soon relocating to New York City. She writes about art, museums, and cultural heritage. Over the last six years, her work has appeared in DailyArt Magazine, Medium Magazine, The Queen’s Journal, and The Medium, where she served as editor-in-chief. Through interviews with artists, curators, and conservators, she brings art history to a wider audience. In her TEDxUofT talk, The Power of Student Journalism, she explored how storytelling can inform and inspire.She also hosts Matter of Art, a podcast uncovering the stories behind artworks, their creation, and their conservation.

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Research & Scholarship

Liz holds an HBSc from the University of Toronto, where she studied chemistry and art history, and first explored technical studies of art as a research assistant on the Bernini’s Bronzes project.Now completing her Master of Art Conservation at Queen’s University, she is developing a non-destructive method to analyze organic patinas on Renaissance bronzes. She is also a research fellow for the Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Lazio project and a teaching assistant.This fall, she begins her PhD at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, where she will research early modern European sculpture and its material, cultural, and social history.

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About

I was born in Montréal, Quebec, and raised in a home filled with art, music, and storytelling. My mother, an artist, and my grandfather, a distinguished musician of Russia, shaped my creativity from an early age. Traveling extensively, I became fluent in Russian, French, Italian, and English—languages that continue to shape my writing and research.I started my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) with plans for medical school. That changed when I took a technical art history course with Professor Evonne Levy, where I discovered a field that combined my love for problem-solving with the material complexities of art. I pivoted, double majoring in chemistry and art history.Subsequently, I joined The Technical Study of Bernini’s Bronzes project as a research assistant for Dr. Levy. Over three years, I conducted technical analyses, material studies, and archival research, supported by University of Toronto Excellence Awards. I completed two independent summer research projects—one examining Alessandro Algardi’s bronze sculptures from a production perspective and another investigating 17th-century medal and medallion casting technology in Rome. I also designed the project’s website.Bernini’s Bronzes fueled my undergraduate thesis on organic patinas on Renaissance bronzes developed alongside Getty Museum conservator Jane Bassett and material scientist Aaron Shugar. Encouraged by Dr. Shugar, I pursued a Master of Art Conservation (Research) at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON), where I am developing a non-destructive analytical protocol to study organic coatings on Renaissance bronze sculptures. My research—building a spectral library of surface coatings—will help museums analyze bronzes worldwide using fiber-optic reflectance spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. This work, extending research pioneered by Richard Stone at the MET, will be presented at the Metal 2025 ICOM-CC conference in Cardiff, Wales.Beyond my thesis, I am a research fellow for Queen’s University’s Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Lazio database, an open-access digital humanities project led by Professor Una D’Elia. In August 2024, I traveled to Rome, visiting 43 churches and photographing over 125 sculptures. My catalogue entries, incorporating visual analysis, and archival and conservation research, will be published in late 2025.My expertise in both art history and material analysis has led to collaborations on technical studies, including examining a 15th-century Renaissance tondo undergoing conservation at Queen’s. I also love teaching and have worked as a TA for art history, conservation, and chemistry courses over the last four years.I am passionate about making art and cultural heritage accessible. At UTM, I started as a staff writer for The Medium—UTM’s independent student newspaper—before becoming features editor and, eventually, editor-in-chief for two years. I led a team of 28 editors and 400+ contributors, overseeing weekly print publications, publishing four magazines, starting a podcast, engaging student writers, and making life-long friendships. My commitment to student journalism led to a TEDxUofT talk, The Power of Student Journalism, where I explored storytelling as a tool for education and engagement. I continued my editorial work at The Queen’s Journal as a staff writer and copy editor, focusing on arts and culture. One of my most cherished projects is my advice column, From Liz, With Love, which started at The Medium, continued at The Journal, and soon will continue in new forms.I also host Matter of Art, a monthly podcast where I share stories about art and interview artists, conservators, and historians. Recent guests include Professor Ron Spronk, a leading figure in the technical studies of art. Additionally, I write and proofread for DailyArt Magazine, an online publication making art history accessible to a broad audience.In fall 2025, I will begin my PhD at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, where my research will focus on early modern European sculpture and its material, cultural, and social history.When I’m not writing, researching, or falling in love with art, you’ll find me giving impromptu gallery tours to friends, reading, taking long walks, or listening to folk, jazz, and soul music.

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