Bringing the weird and wonderful
world of art history to light.
Who am I?
Hi, I'm Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, PhD. I'm a recovering professor of art history who left my academic position to find new ways to share the thrilling, weird, and maddening stories about art and history with more people. Though, I still teach and love the classroom. My superpower is finding ways to connect art history to everything.
These days, I am happily at work uncovering Disneyland's hidden art history, such as Victorian hair art in the Haunted Mansion or cheeky parodies of the Mona Lisa in Pinocchio's Daring Journey. Also underway, I have two middle-grade series: a non-fiction series about women in Latin America and a mystery series about two sister sleuths.
I'm also a co-founder of ARTSQ (an educational project aimed at making art history exciting for K-12), an award-winning educator, a museum and TV program consultant, an editor, and an educational video producer. Somewhere in there, I am also a photographer who tries to sleep and wrangle kids.
Putting art history to work in the world.
Did you know?
🔴 In Mexico, artists used crushed bugs to create a glorious red paint. And guess what? We still use it today as a dye and food coloring. Hello, carmine and Red-4!
🚽 In New York City, a urinal changed the course of art in the 20th century. Don't worry, it wasn't used. I don't think....
🏛️ In Rome, the oldest monument in the city is from . . . ancient Egypt. It was brought to Rome a long time ago. And it is not the only one in the city.
🏰 In Los Angeles, Disneyland uses hundreds of art historical references from around the world—not all kid-friendly. I've been collecting these references for more than 20 years.
Recent Musings on the Blog
Books
