Ariel Kern at the Egyptian Temple of Dendur at The Met

ALK: I recently graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where I developed a major in Art and Social History, Law, and Literature. Through college I interned and worked in various fields, including a small museum, a library, an archeological dig, a law firm, and an auction house. 

A professor of mine told me about ARCA when I was starting to consider what I wanted to do after graduation. I soon realized that the ARCA Postgraduate program was perfect for me. I am comfortable with the interdisciplinary approach to learning I used as an undergraduate, and this program is the only way I could truly combine all of my interests to find the right career path for me.

ALK: I am interested in researching the social motivations behind those who are involved with art crime. While there are obvious financial reasons, the social reasons are more obscure and not easily quantifiable. It is really an exploration of social perceptions and how those involved with the illicit end of the art world can use that to justify their actions. By understanding that we can begin to figure out ways of changing the ideas the wider public holds and cut down the justifications criminals use.

ALK: It’s difficult to pick a specific artist or period, but I have always been interested in the decorative or practical arts like architecture, clothing and furniture. I originally realized I wanted to work in the art world when I first saw the medieval armor wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I was very young at the time, but my interests have not changed drastically since then.

ALK: I have not been to Italy before, so I am very excited to see all of the cities and sites that I have been reading about for years. With all of the running around, I would also like to immerse myself in the slower Italian lifestyle, so balancing my travel-bug with my wish to experience the culture will be interesting, to say the least.

The Paris National Art Collection was handed over a long-lost masterpiece by Leonardo Da Vinci today. The Da Vinci piece was being hidden for years by backers of the mafia in a safe deposit box. The FBI estimates the value of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder at approximately 70 million euros.

The Lansdowne Madonna

Madonna with Yarnwinder  (Duke of Buccleuch)

How much of the Buccleuch copy was painted by Leonardo was a matter of scholarly debate until recently. Scientific studies indicate that in addition to the work's underdrawing (with its pentimenti or small changes), the genius was most likely responsible for its overall design, the figures and the skillfully rendered rocky foreground. The landscape is uncharacteristic of Leonardo; it was probably painted a bit later by another artist, perhaps a workshop assistant. The flesh tones of Mary's face were executed using Leonardo's typical sfumato or smoky technique. A second brighter copy of The Madonna of the Yarnwinder belongs to a private collector.

Riley Meghan Kraft

Riley Meghan Kraft: While I do love learning about art history and criminology, my greatest interest from the ARCA program is learning about investigation, security, and the art and antiquities trade. Since I know so little about these subjects, I believe I will spend most of my efforts trying to understand them through research.

Riley Meghan Kraft: In June 2008, I spent a week in Rome and visited Pompeii. As an aspiring archaeologist it was a dream come true! However, after these past few years studying Roman history, language, literature, and culture I realized how much I missed when I was there. When I’m not attending lectures in Amelia, I’d like to travel through as much of Italy as I can; seeing the art and architecture, learning the history, meeting the people, exploring the land, and experiencing the life.

Aphrodite (Venus of Morgantina)/AP

Francesco Rutelli

Among the citizens who turned out were several former "clandestini," the Sicilian term for looters, local officials said. For decades, looting has been a source of income for residents in one of the most impoverished corners of Italy's poorest region.

Kaitlin Murphy

Kaitlin Murphy: My undergraduate degree is in Art and Art History from Colgate University. During my junior year, I spent a semester abroad studying in Venice, Italy. It was here that I developed a passion for not only the subject matter, but for the Italian culture as a whole. Being surrounded by “floating buildings,” I chose to focus my attention on architectural history for my thesis and continued my education after working for a couple of years to begin a masters program in Architecture at Boston Architectural College. After taking a direct hit from the housing and economy collapse, I took a teaching position at a high school where I taught art and art history. I was able to write my own curriculum and followed my curiosities in art crimes as part of the art history survey course. One of my students came across ARCA and as I checked it out, discovered the postgraduate program. The combination of art history, culture, art crimes, and Italy made committing to a summer in Umbria a no brainer for me.

Kaitlin Murphy: Currently, I love Renaissance art as a time period in world history for the architecture and paintings and in many cases, the combination of the two. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of art in situ because it connects visually with architecture like a conversation. I appreciate the balance and architecture specifically of Andrea Palladio and laugh when I see his influence in American civic and residential architecture. As a bookend to renaissance art, I like to study ancient art as a source or foundation for the evolution of what we have become. It is amazing to see true originality and the “aha!” moment of the discovery of new techniques and materials frozen in the art like a photo.

Kaitlin Murphy: I lived in Venice (right by Piazza San Marco) in the fall of 2003 as part of my undergrad art history curriculum and have been back two more times since then as a tourist. I have been an amateur tour guide in Rome for my family and friends and a beach goer along the coast. My favorite thing to do in Italy is to sit, enjoy some gelato or local wine, and people-watch. While on the subject of food, I would like to learn a few tricks of the trade and expand my pallet to include some new recipes with fresh and local ingredients. To be able to explore a few towns off the beaten tourist path is also a very attractive use of my down time. My husband (Ryan) will be joining me later in the program and this will be his first visit to Italy so the pressure will be on to know the good places to eat, see, and travel.

Kaitlin Murphy: I am not a musician, but I thoroughly enjoy live music and look forward to these opportunities!

Plaster cast self-portrait by Margaret Wade  from her first art show

Margaret Wade: I began studying the theory and psychology of Art (specifically Sculpture) at a small, liberal arts school in Amherst, MA. This is how I came across my second major- The Third Reich. Hitler, an artist, understood that to truly destroy a culture, among other things, he must eliminate the very threads that unite a society- its expression. At my second school, Mount Holyoke, I dove into Art History in the Third Reich and Art Studio. It was here I realized that I cannot fix the past, but I can contribute to the future. All the Nazi looted art work deserves to be to returned to its rightful owner. Plus, when I grow up, I want to be Indiana Jones. 

I am also interested in the idea of containment and preservation. How do you encapsulate the moment, memory and effect of art? Databasing and cataloguing art will help with my second path- I am creating a "museum" out of the house I grew up in. Located in Birmingham, AL, I plan to share with my community a purple house with snakes and chairs on the ceiling, and its contemporary art.

Margaret Wade: Any piece of art with a pulse will strike my interest. Historically, I enjoy Dadaism and Surrealism because of the boundaries Duchamp pushed the art world. As of right this moment in time, Street art gets my heart racing. I love the unregulated aspect of the art world. As an artist, I am constantly seeking out new areas of expression. Who owns art anyway?

Margaret Wade: In 2007, I had the pleasure of working with the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice for three months. I got to experience the art world in ways an artist or art historian is not privy to. I believe to be truly passionate about an area of work, you must experience it all. Working in a museum, you come to understand the affect art has on its visitors- vandalism, utter amazement, disgust, indifference. It is this reason I plan to pursue, Why in the world would you steal an piece of art work? It is just an object -- an object that causes people to react in so many different way that I just want to know WHY. If I ever stop questioning and searching for answers, consider me dead!

Margaret Wade: HA! Absolutely not, I cannot carry a tune, but I can dance for hours HOURS on end. In fact, Karaoke is one of my biggest fears. That said, I appreciate all aspects of art- even the ones that highlight my flaws! I enjoy experiencing new sensations and getting lost in music. Life is a priviledge but art is a right!

Katherine Luer inside one of the towers of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Katherine Luer: I am just about to graduate from Georgetown University with my BA in Art History and minors in both Italian and Spanish. I've been interested in entering the field of art crime for several years now, and when I heard about the ARCA program about a year ago I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do after I graduated.

Katherine Luer: I've worked as a security guard at a museum here in Washington and thus am highly interested in museum security. That being said, I someday hope to work with the FBI's Art Crime Team and so the history of such groups inside law enforcement (Scotland Yard, the carabinieri, etc) interests me as well.

Katherine Luer: My great love has always been Matisse, but lately I've been enjoying the work of Modigliani, Munch and Klee as well. Any early modern work fascinates me.

Katherine Luer: I've traveled extensively all around the country and lived in the small town of Fiesole for several months. Regardless, I'd like to travel more, particularly in the south, and look forward to showing the other students some of my favorite towns!

Perri Osattin at Ephesus, Turkey

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

"I graduated last June from Williams College with a BA in art history, as well as a concentration in Middle East studies and a certificate in Spanish language and culture. I first became fascinated by art history during high school when I took a required art appreciation course and studied art in Spain for a month, both under the tutelage of enormously enthusiastic teachers. After ultimately scrapping my plan to study journalism, I arrived at Williams knowing that I wanted to pursue art history, in addition to my life-long passions for Spain and the sea (as a sophomore, I participated in a semester-long maritime studies program in Mystic, Ct.; unusual programs are clearly my forte). Precisely because it was not the most obvious place to continue my particular course of study, Turkey intrigued me from the start, but of course its art and architecture also reflect its unique position as the meeting point of 'East' and 'West' and of various religious and ethnic cultures.

"While studying abroad at Bogazici University in Istanbul, I discovered modern Turkish art and researched the architecture of the former capital's old Jewish quarters, and I was lucky enough to explore archaeological and religious sites throughout the country, including Cappodoccia, the eastern borders with Iran/Armenia/Georgia, the Black Sea region, and the Aegean coast.  

"As may be the case for many of the program's New York participants, the NY Times article about ARCA from a few years ago caught my eye immediately. I have worked at an art gallery, an art museum, a few history museums, and a historic site, but my mother was a criminal prosecutor and my father was an investigator of various kinds, so fighting crime is in my blood!"

"I'm not positive yet, but I am very interested in the subtleties of modern museum security and how, at some institutions, it now takes its cues from sophisticated airport security models and uses other techniques which are commonplace in traditional law enforcement. I am also curious about the legal and political status of cultural patrimony in Turkey, particularly after visiting the ruins of Pergamum and learning that the site has experienced an Elgin-marbles type of situation with Germany."

I'm always most interested in whatever I'm learning about at the moment, but since graduating (and fortuitously learning that a suite-mate of mine from Turkey shares my passion) my love for the work of Vladimir Kush has resurfaced. His paintings combine surreal and often ironic or humorous subjects with hyper-realistic technique, as well as some of the most richly saturated and iridescent hues I've ever seen.

"Strangely enough for an art history student, I have never been to Italy. I definitely plan to travel and see Italy's cultural heritage, in its various forms, and to sample some amazing food and wine. I am especially looking forward to perhaps attending my first real opera with some of the other program participants, and getting to know the people of Italy."

"I studied music for most of my life, but have not touched an instrument in several years. However, I still really enjoy the social, yet intimate vibe of local music joints and really love to dance, so hopefully my evenings in Amelia will be full of music!"