Throughout her career, Lawrence has vacillated between curatorial positions in museums and academic appointments in universities. Her scholarship and teaching is devoted to the study, preservation, and presentation of the material and visual culture of Early Modern Europe. She has held curatorial positions at The Jewish Museum, NY, and The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Her exhibitions include “Crafting a Jewish Style: The Art of Bezalel, 1906-1996” at The Jewish Museum, 1998-99; “Michelangelo Unveiled” at The Cooper Hewitt, 2002, and “Piranesi as Designer” at The Cooper Hewitt in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2007-08.