Meghan Ruyle '19
During her time at Illinois College, Meghan Ruyle ’19 worked with faculty to create a customized plan of study in order to launch a career she is passionate about pursuing.
Meghan’s journey at IC began with the bold decision to study art history — a major that is not traditionally offered at Illinois College. Working with faculty, she was able to pack her four years with hands-on experiences and impressive accomplishments. Meghan recalls her first time really getting to experience jobs in her field was through an internship at the Illinois State Museum. She gained professional experience that included helping to install one of the museum’s largest exhibits ever to celebrate the bicentennial of Illinois. This unique experience combined with the lasting connections she made with her colleagues, made her realize she wants to be an art curator.
Meghan was also one of the few undergraduate students whose proposal was selected from a record-breaking 900 submissions to present her art history research at a College Art Association conference in New York City alongside graduate and Ph.D. students, professors and professionals from all over the nation. Immediately after graduation, Meghan had the opportunity to experience her research subject firsthand by traveling to Venice to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Museum to view many of the artworks she collected during the war. This fall Meghan will attend the University of Alabama, where she will pursue a master’s degree in art history while working in a teaching assistantship position for the university.
“I’ve always been given the opportunity to experiment with what I wanted to learn … I don’t think I would be studying art history if I hadn’t come to IC. Having people that believe in me at Illinois College has given me the confidence to do what I love.”