Investing in the Next Generation of Curators

August 3, 2026

A new fellowship fund established by Susan Duncan and Leo Fisher—both OC 1975—will provide Oberlin College students with immersive, year-long curatorial experiences, preparing the next generation of museum professionals through hands-on research, mentorship, and regional museum partnerships.

Thanks to their support, the Allen launches three new curatorial fellowships this fall. The Susan Duncan ’75 and Leo Fisher ’75 AMAM Curatorial Fellowship Fund will provide students with year-long opportunities to deepen their research skills while introducing them to the full scope of curatorial work. Fellows will participate in career-focused conversations with museum staff and regional arts professionals and visit museums, conservation studios, and arts organizations throughout the region. The Allen’s director Jon Seydl recently caught up with Sue and Leo to discuss their enduring connection to Oberlin College, their passion for museums, and their commitment to preparing the next generation of museum professionals.

Q: Tell us your Oberlin story.

So many Oberlin stories! But our all-time favorite is the one that hasn’t ended yet: we met each other there and we celebrated our 50th anniversary last year.

After graduating in 1975, we moved to the Washington, DC area with nothing but a car, clothing, and our Oberlin degrees. Shortly after finding entry-level positions and renting an apartment, we met over lunch hour and were married before returning to work! As soon as we could afford it, we began graduate programs at night in business and law at George Washington University. Fast forward and we’re now retired after pursuing careers in financial services and private practice law.

Q: You’ve supported the Allen very generously—how did you develop your interest in art and museums?

Beginning in our mid-30s, we devoted as much of our annual leave as possible to travel. We feel very fortunate to have traveled extensively and will continue to do so as long as we’re able. To the extent possible, we choose locally owned accommodations, restaurants, and shops; we also seek out local artisans and handcrafts everywhere. With respect to art specifically, we’ve found that local architecture (and archaeology) as well as national and regional art museums often add a rich layer of context, nuance, and texture to the history, values, customs, and culture of the area. Wherever we go, we try to bring the open minds, intellectual curiosity, and critical thinking that Oberlin excels at cultivating.

Of course, art isn’t only found within the walls of museums. By nurturing that “eye of the beholder,” we can find it everywhere. If art is the expression of human imagination, encompassing visual, literary, performance, and architectural works, its aesthetic counterparts in the natural world include landscapes, flora, and fauna. Seeing the entire world as a museum of art and aesthetics is a powerful antidote when the daily onslaught begins to feel relentless. We’ve made sure our home is a celebration of our travels, so we’re always surrounded by favorite memories.

Probably the most inspiring example we can cite from personal experience is the astonishing wonder of cave art painted as long ago as 40,000 years. We wish everyone interested in art could stand inside one of these caves and contemplate the motivation and skills needed to paint these animals as high as five meters and as far as a kilometer inside pitch-black caves, some chambers accessible only through cramped, narrow passages.

Other memorable examples from our travels include the moai on Rapa Nui, the headless and armless Agora in Chicago, the multi-figure memorial on Martinique to the shipwrecked enslaved, the sui generis style of Gaudi, the complex arabesques and geometric patterns of Islamic architecture throughout the Muslim world, the Bayeaux tapestry, tribal art in Alaska, Canada, Africa, and the Southwest, the birth of printing enshrined at the Gutenberg Museum, Bloomsday in Dublin, the graffiti and street art on the Western side of the Berlin Wall, theater weekends in New York, flamenco dancing in a hillside cave house in Grenada, the moreska sword dance (with actual swords) in Korcula, listening to Mozart pieces on an organ he played them on, and admiring Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze while listening to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

Also, culinary arts: drinking champagne cactus granitas in Paris!

Finally, although it’s a topic for another forum, we’d like to add a plea to support the conservation and preservation of natural beauty in landscapes and wildlife worldwide.

Q: Much of your philanthropy at Oberlin is focused on student success. Can you share more about why you care so deeply for career readiness?

We are indebted to Oberlin, both for finding each other and for preparing us to live a full life. What we learned and experienced at Oberlin laid the groundwork not only for career success, but for ensuring a healthy work/life balance. A liberal arts education is such an excellent head start for life! Our funding programs try to address both career readiness and the development of diverse interests and experiences to supplement and enhance the career. As Lincoln said, purportedly while educating himself by candlelight at night, “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.”

Q: Do you have a particular favorite work of art?

Leo: The Tomb of the Diver at Paestum combines my interests in classical art and architecture. More importantly, I see it as our dive into oblivion. But can we do it as gracefully as the diver? There is no coming back.

Sue: Who doesn’t love a Vermeer, right?! But as it happens, my favorite, A Lady Writing a Letter, hangs just minutes away in the Smithsonian. I’m not an art scholar; I leave that type of analysis to the experts. Whether I’m considering a poem, a painting, or a play, I always start with, “How does it make me feel?” The critical thinking comes next, “Why?” (I feel, therefore I think, therefore I am.)

Many believe this lady is in the midst of writing a love letter and is smiling at what she’s written or the imagined response from her lover. I’m not so sure. Here’s what I see:

I think she has been momentarily interrupted from her letter by you. She has just heard you enter the room; she is painted at the moment she recognizes you, just before she rises to greet you. She is looking directly at you, smiling, pleased to see you. Her expression draws you toward her. Step inside the painting and you could throw your arms around her. I think Vermeer has written a love letter to all of us and sent it down through the centuries.