Rebecca Albiani knows how to make art history come alive. She has become Vashon’s favorite art historian, lecturing regularly at the Vashon Center for the Arts. In this interview, we turn the tables and ask Rebecca about her history and how she came to such an interesting career.
Rebecca Albiani was en route to a doctorate in art history at Stanford University when her body and her mind said, “No more.” Still passionate about art, she began lecturing at the Frye Museum after she and her husband moved to Seattle. The rest was history as her lectures became increasingly popular and requests for her presence spread to arts centers, retirement centers, Edmonds Community College—and fortunately for us—Vashon Center for the Arts, to which she was introduced through her colleague from the Frye, Anita Halstead.

Rebecca’s passion for her subjects is infectious, and her well-researched lectures are always accessible and engaging. You can find a sample of her talks, such as this one (https://voiceofvashon.org/user-content/history-of-the-parthenon-rebecca-albiani/), in the VOV archives, or videos of her lectures on YouTube.

In October 2023 she won a scholarship from the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association to study advanced Italian for a month at the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy(and visit some of her favorite art). She serves as treasurer on the SPSCA board and volunteers at a small food bank near her Seattle home. She has two young adult childrenand a Jack Russell terrier. Her interests include traveling(chiefly to look at art), vegetarian cooking, reading, yoga, and drawing.