ARCA 2011 Student Zachariah Mattheus on Going to Amelia

Zachariah Mattheus will be part of ARCA's 2011 summer program in art crime studies and cultural heritage protection. He is an independent art director and graphic designer working in branding, print and web design. HIs professional collaborations over the past ten years with Warner Music Group, Rhino Records, Kerouac Films, Bloomberg, Conde Nast, Envirosell, Vox Guitars, The New York City Ballet and Jordache exhibit his penchant for the telling of great stories. His work can be seen at www.zachmattheus.com.

ARCA Blog: What is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?

I received my degree in Graphic Design from The School of Visual Arts. I came across the ARCA program in a NY Times article about 1.5 years ago. I already had a fascination with art crime, especially forgery, from reading every book I could get my hands on about the subject, both non-fiction and fiction (Fake!, The Forger, The Rescue Artist, The Lost Van Gogh, The Art Thief, etc). The ARCA program was the logical next step for me in immersing myself further into the world of art crime.

ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?

I have lived in Italy twice before, once as a student in 1999 and once as a teacher in 2002-03 in Florence at Studio Art Centers International. It was there that I met my wife-to-be Jess Hayden who will be joining us in Amelia this summer. We are both very excited to return to Italy, especially to an area that we do not know and are eager to explore. We love a good dinner party, although she is definitely the chef, and intend to eat and drink our way through the summer. While we are there we intend to spend some time with old friends and explore the areas along the Adriatic and in the south. And of course get back to Florence and one of our favorite restaurants, Garga.

ARCA Blog: The program culminates in the writing of a publishable article. What area of art crime or cultural protection would you like to research?

At this point I would say I would like to further explore the world of forgery, but after seeing the ARCA prospectus who know what direction I will be pushed in once classes begin.