Emma Baker
Emma Baker graduated from Colby College in 2024, majoring in Art History and Studio Art with a concentration in painting. She is originally from San Francisco, California, and greatly misses the fog, hills, and great food. In her free time, Emma enjoys cooking, making pottery, and spending time with friends—sometimes combining all three! Emma’s interest in art history grew out of her lifelong passion for making art and a desire to understand the historical significance of art practices.
Lydia Burke
Lydia Burke ’24 majored at Colby College in History and Art History. She has a particular interest in 19th- and 20th-century American art, one she discovered while interning for the Portland Museum of Art and studying the paintings of Winslow Homer. This interest perfectly intersects with the South Solon Meeting House, a fascinating relic of mid-century American art. She was thrilled to be a part of this important project.
Carter Dexter
Carter Dexter ’23 majored at Colby College in Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience with an Art minor. After studying European art history for two years at Colby, Carter, who grew up in Maine, took this class in order to explore the history of art closer to home. While at Colby, Carter did graphic design for the Colby Art Department. He enjoys hiking in Baxter State Park and hanging out with friends. He is currently working for a company in Portland, ME that screenprints merchandise for local stores and plans to pursue a career in graphic design.
Mina Ekstrom
Mina grew up in New York city. She graduated from Colby College in 2024, majoring in both Art History and Studio Art, with a minor in Enviornmental Studies. Mina is particularly interested in 20th- and 21st-century art, which made this course a deeply fulfilling experience. Outside of the classroom, you would find Mina running the Colby College Art Department Social Media or working on an Interspecies Justice Working Group independent research project. Other then that, Mina enjoys hiking, cooking, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Layla Faragallah
Layla graduated from Colby College in 2024 with a double major in Art History and Government. She is from New York and loves puzzles, reading, and spending time outside. She grew up making art and visiting museums with her family, which helped her develop a love and appreciation for art history. The South Solon Meeting House has provided her with an exciting and unique opportunity to learn more about art in Maine.
Zehra Gundogdu
Zehra grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. She is a member of the class of 2025 at Colby College, double majoring in Art History and Computer Science. Her interest in Art History was kindled in the summer of 2021, when she participated in the Pioneer Academics Research Program (her paper “The Role of Iconoclasm in Medieval Byzantine” was published in Pioneer Research Journal 2021). Zehra is the co-curator of the LC Bates Museum Summer Art Exhibition 2023, In Balance/Imbalance, working under the supervision of Prof. Véronique Plesch. She was a Pulver Science Scholar and enjoys developing software. Zehra is a big fan of Ashley Bryan, and researching his fresco at the SSMH was an especially enjoyable experience for her.
Rory Hallowell
Rory grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. He attended Milton Academy and graduated from Colby College in 2024. At Colby, Rory he double majored in Religious and American Studies with a concentration in Masculinity and a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. He played on the Squash team and worked on the Environmental Humanities Board and in the Student Government where he was elected Class President his junior year. Rory is a dual citizen of Denmark and the U.S and enjoys learning about Danish Impressionist Art.
Julia Lagomarsino
Julia graduated from Colby College in 2024, double majoring in Art History and Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. Julia was a research assistant in the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab. She enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with her Jack Russell Terrier, Augie.
Katie Roy
Katie grew up in Saco, Maine. She graduated from Colby College in 2023, majoring in Biology and minoring in Religious Studies. She was a member of the Colby Track and Field team for three years. Her main events were pole vault, 4x100m relay, and 4x400m relay. In 2021, she became an All-American in the 4x100m relay. In her free time, Katie enjoys cooking, CrossFit, and drinking a cup of coffee with her two cats. During the summer, you will likely find Katie working as an assistant in a dentist office. So far, she has had the opportunity to work as a clinical assistant at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates in Portland, Maine and as a dental assistant at Dunstan Dental Center in Scarborough, Maine. After graduation, she plans to attend dental school and hopes to open her own practice.
Véronique Plesch
Professor of Art History at Colby College, Plesch has dedicated a large part of her publications to early modern religious fresco cycles. Her scholarship also concerns word and image issues (she was President of the International Association of Word and Image Studies from 2008 to 2017) and in recent years she has turned some of her attention to art in Maine (she is one of the editors of the Maine Arts Journal: UMVA Quarterly).
Ari Trueba
Trueba, who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, graduated from Colby College in 2023, double majoring in Neurobiology and Visual Arts, with a concentration in sculpture. On campus, they helped manage the student-run Mary Low Coffee House.
Robert I. Villani
Robert grew up in Westchester County, NY. He graduated from Colby College in 2023, concentrating in Religious Studies and Managerial Economics. In his junior year, he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as part of their Economic History department. When not studying, he is likely on the squash court. He was a member of Colby’s team, LSE’s team, and has competed nationally and internationally in tournaments and friendly exhibition matches. Otherwise, he enjoys reading, following current affairs, and learning about world cultures which often entails trying new restaurants whenever possible. Developing from his appreciation of quality food grew an interest in sustainability, production, and consumption.
