Elisabeth Berry Drago
Elisabeth (Lisa) Berry Drago was director of museum education at the Science History Institute until 2024. She also cohosted (with Alexis Pedrick) the Institute’s podcast on the odd and fascinating histories of science, Distillations. She curated The Story of Ramie: From Seed to Finished Garment (2024), BOLD: Color from Test Tube to Textile (2023–2024), Things Fall Apart (2017–2018) and Age of Alchemy (2018–2021). Berry Drago is the winner of a 2018 American Alliance of Museums’ Award for Excellence in Exhibition Label Writing (Things Fall Apart).
Berry Drago holds a PhD in art history from the University of Delaware, specializing in the representation of science and artisanal work, the history of the print, and artistic identity-making. Her most recent book, Painted Alchemists (Amsterdam University Press, 2019), is the first monograph on the painter Thomas Wijck (1616–1677), whose pictures of alchemists in the laboratory offer new perspectives on early modern science and artistry.
More from Elisabeth Berry Drago
A Colorful Tour
Explore the histories—and legacies—of textile dyes such as indigo, mauve, and Paris green with BOLD curator Lisa Berry Drago.
The Story of Ramie: From Seed to Finished Garment
Explore the fascinating history of this natural textile through stunningly detailed watercolors illustrating each step in the ramie process.
BOLD: Color from Test Tube to Textile
A colorful journey through more than 150 years of synthetic dye-making.
Coffee with a Curator: BOLD Histories of Synthetic Color
In this course Lisa Berry Drago will lead us through the first 150 years of manufactured dyes, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the curation of the BOLD exhibition.
