From leading the poetry club and serving as a house adviser to acting in a Green Room Theatre production, Keats Dai ’23 tried everything that interested her at Franklin & Marshall. After taking two courses in art history, Dai found her niche. 

“I think these two classes really showed me that I had the passion and talent to study art,” Dai said. “I was thinking of going to law school, but majoring in art history opened up my academic horizons, allowing me to be creative and research with discipline at the same time.”

Dai continues to blend creativity with research as a curatorial assistant at Shanghai Arts and Design Company. “I think being a curatorial assistant is a continuous process of learning,” she said. “To get myself ready to curate, I have to gather information from all resources — it’s very similar to doing a research project.”

“Majoring in art history opened up my academic horizons, allowing me to be creative and research with discipline at the same time.”

— Keats Dai ’23

Dai was recently invited to be a translator for Serbian conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramović, who held a talk for her exhibition “Transforming Energy” at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai.

“I was really nervous at the very beginning, trying to grasp all her ideas and generating a proper way to convey those in Mandarin — it was super brain-consuming!” Dai said. “But later on, I was entranced by her speech. It was so powerful, exciting and intimate. The most important and wonderful thing is that her talk made me realize the possibility of cross-culture communication and the commonality of human beings.”

Dai said she’s grateful that F&M is an open and inclusive place that empowered her to find her path. 

“My experiences at the College trained me to think, to pursue, and to gain a better understanding of myself. All of those equipped me with the bravery to dive into the unknown to explore,” she said. 

Dai encouraged F&M students to do the same. 

“Take advantage of every opportunity that you have to get involved; chase after those that excite you; set and keep the bar high for your achievements; and learn from those real-life experiences. One day, all these experiences will coalesce and reveal their value,” she said.

Keats Dai ’23 was recently invited to be a translator for Serbian conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramović, who held a talk for her exhibition “Transforming Energy” at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai.

Keats Dai ’23 was recently invited to be a translator for Serbian conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramović, who held a talk for her exhibition “Transforming Energy” at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai.

Dai graduated F&M with a degree in art history. She's now a curatorial assistant at Shanghai Arts and Design Company. “I think being a curatorial assistant is a continuous process of learning,” she said. “To get myself ready to curate, I have to gather information from all resources — it’s very similar to doing a research project.”

Dai said she’s grateful that F&M is an open and inclusive place that empowered her to find her path. “My experiences at the College trained me to think, to pursue, and to gain a better understanding of myself. All of those equipped me with the bravery to dive into the unknown to explore,” she said.

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