ASU-LACMA Master's Fellowship in Art History

Folkes-Lallo received her bachelor’s degree in urban studies and media studies with a concentration in film from Rhodes College. She joined the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art education department in 2022.

In her role, Folkes-Lallo engages students from across the Memphis area in gallery exploration and artmaking. She is passionate about increasing the presence of youth voice in the museum space and working collaboratively with teens. 

Kristin Pedrozo is a double fellow at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (MBMA), holding the position of Art Bridges Curatorial Fellow and ASU-LACMA fellow. Born in the Philippines and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Kristin received her studio art BFA at Rhodes College and is a graduate art history student through the ASU-LACMA fellowship. Kristin's curatorial position is tied to an Art Bridges Foundation-sponsored regional museum cohort focused on facilitating collection sharing and exhibition touring for museums across the American South, including Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, Fisk University Art Galleries and Mississippi Museum of Art. Additionally, she is the lead curator for the Summer and Winter Art Gardens, where she works with local artists to activate the museum's plaza, and a key contributor to the museum's $222 million new building project along the Mississippi River banks, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog and de Meuron.

Janessa Maria Melendez serves as the Lead Teaching Artist for Interpretive Media and Gallery Programs in the Education Department at Perez Art Museum Miami. She has contributed to the institution through research and educational interpretive content writing, enhancing visitor engagement with the museum’s exhibitions. Janessa’s role has allowed her to develop and contribute to programs that have deepened her understanding of art, culture and community engagement. Before joining PAMM, Janessa worked extensively in early childhood and art education, which instilled a deep appreciation for learning and a commitment to fostering intellectual growth.

Jordan Tanguay is an emerging art historian whose research explores masculinities and camp aesthetics in eighteenth and nineteenth-century European art. He holds a BA in Art History from Eastern Washington University, where he received the Dean’s Student Excellence Award for his thesis on Cecil Beaton’s royal portraiture and queer appropriations of aristocratic imagery. His current research focuses on the intersections of gender, empire and aesthetic performance in fin de siècle Britain and France. With professional experience at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Jordan has cultivated a deep interest in how public institutions can challenge dominant narratives by providing critical resources that transform societies over time. Drawing from his rural upbringing and a commitment to equity in the arts, his work aims to broaden public access to arts and education institutions. Through the ASU-LACMA Fellowship, Jordan plans to help shape more inclusive and intellectually rigorous museum spaces through both scholarship and leadership.

Koni Zhang is a Production Coordinator with a hybrid role in both the Graphic Design department and LACMA Productions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She is currently a second-year fellow in the ASU–LACMA Master’s Fellowship in Art History.

With a background in museum production, design and installation, Koni coordinates print and media projects for exhibitions and artist film productions while pursuing academic research that bridges curatorial practice and visual culture studies. Her graduate work focuses on Japanese woodblock prints and modern comics, examining their transnational circulation since the 1970s and exploring how comics function as cultural artifacts through their materiality and form. She is passionate about integrating comics into museum collections and exhibitions to expand art historical narratives and diversify curatorial perspectives.

Oliver Sayers earned his BA in Museum Studies from Arizona State University in 2021. He joined the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023 as the SMoCA Coordinator. In his role, Sayers manages organizational, administrative, and communication duties, serves as a liaison with internal departments and assists with curatorial organization and exhibitions. As an ASU-LACMA Fellow, Sayers' research interests include experimental and contemporary art practices that, through various themes, intervene and engage with the public.

Fabiana Alexandra Sotillo was raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and moved to Miami in 2019 to pursue her BA in Art History at Florida International University (FIU), which she earned with honors in 2022. Her journey in the arts began in 2015, as a teenager, with an internship at Ranivilu Art Gallery. Since then, she has explored many realms of the art world, including art advisory, private collections, working as an artist assistant and interning at El Espacio 23 in Miami. In 2022, she joined Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) as Curatorial Assistant. In her role at PAMM, she oversees exhibition didactics, coordinates publications and supports curators in realizing their exhibition projects. In the past two years, together with PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans, Sotillo co-curated two major exhibitions. As a Venezuelan immigrant, Sotillo is committed to using her role in the arts to amplify the voices of her Latin American community, viewing art as an expression of our shared humanity rather than fixed categories. As an ASU-LACMA Fellow, she intends to focus her research on the Venezuelan art world, aiming to highlight her country’s often-overlooked contributions to art history.

Mars Torres has been a museum professional since 2019. He holds a BA in Art History with a minor in Studio Art from Cal State San Bernardino. Mars has been the Visitor Services Coordinator at ASUAM since 2024 and previously held positions at SFMOMA and LACMA.