Office: Fowler Museum
Phone: 310-825-4259

Marla Berns received her Ph.D. in art history at UCLA in 1986, specializing in African art. Thereafter, she was director of The Goldstein, a museum of design at the University of Minnesota. From 1991-2001, she served as director of the University Art Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara and adjunct associate professor of art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research and writing have concentrated on women's arts in Northeastern Nigeria - which include ceramics, decorated gourds and programs of body scarification - and on the historical and ritual importance of figurative ceramic vessels. Throughout her career, she has been involved in the presentation of exhibitions on topics as wide-ranging as women's inventions, 1930s fashion, the history of underwear, Japanese textiles and prints, 20th-century art and design, and her specialty, African art. She has recently finished a retrospective exhibition and monograph on Santa Barbara designer Paul Tuttle, who is internationally known for his furniture and architectural designs.