A specialist in Renaissance and Baroque art, Irina teaches art and architectural history at Columbia University where she also earned her PhD in 2003. She has published numerous articles in her field, worked for several New York Old Master galleries, and received fellowships for her academic work from the National Gallery in Washington, the Fulbright Foundation, the Getty, the Society of Fellows and the Italian Academy (both at Columbia) and the American Philosophical Society. In addition to teaching in her area of specialization, Irina, a native New Yorker with a deep interest in local history, has been offering a class on the architecture of New York City at Columbia for the past four years.

Born in England but raised in Amherst, MA, John is a specialist in modern and contemporary art history and is always especially excited to share his knowledge of these fields. He received a PhD from Emory University in 2015. His dissertation analyzes new art forms that emerged in the 1960s. From 2015-2017, he was a postdoctoral curatorial fellow at the National Gallery of Art. He has taught at Harvard University, the Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology, George Washington University, and UMass. Whether offering introductory surveys or specialized graduate courses, he always leads classes on visits to area art galleries and museums. John is the author of articles in various peer-reviewed journals and has delivered papers and lectures at a range of institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Princeton University, and Harvard. Additionally, he was the recipient of major fellowships from the Whitney Museum of American Art and the American Council of Learned Societies/Henry Luce Foundation. Prior to graduate school, John taught English in Salamanca, Spain. He offers tours in Spanish and is accustomed to interactions with non-native speakers of English.

Mitch holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and Philosophy from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. His passion for urban history began during his 7 years in Paris, where he worked in his spare time as a city guide and teacher of history and philosophy. His scholarly work has focused on theories of truth as they express themselves in art, literature and theology. Since moving to New York City 12 years ago, he has authored four books on east coast cities, and actively pursues his side-passions for composing classical music (he recently premiered his second opera), and photography (his work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker and Time, amongst other