She is a PhD candidate and Fulbright Postgraduate award recipient at the University of St Andrews, working within the Institute for Museums, Heritage and Society. Her dissertation, Power and Participation in the Museum Context: How Ukrainian Museums Utilize Participatory Methods in Public Engagement Programs, examines how Ukrainian museums employ participation to construct and communicate national identity.  

Specifically, this project investigates how participatory methods are used by museum employees to facilitate public engagement programs in the wake of the full-scale invasion, and considers the modality through which these activities may challenge or support traditional hierarchies of power present in the museum context. 

Beyond this project, Mesonjnik’s personal and professional activities concentrate around the intersections of culture and community and are focused on increasing public accessibility for arts and culture programs. Prior to embarking upon her dissertation, Mesonjnik served as the Manager of Public Programs at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut and co-founded the New York City-based Mother of Pearl art collective. She is also a practicing artist.  

During her residency fellowship at the Center for Urban History, Mesonjnik will continue to work on her dissertation. This time will be devoted to speaking with Ukrainian museum and cultural workers directly, visiting cultural institutions in Lviv and the surrounding areas, parsing through the Center’s archives to investigate other projects that study the relationship between museums and national identity, and learning more about developing museum practices in Ukraine.