Visual Culture Lecture Series

The Visual Culture Lecture Series is sponsored by College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences John & Mary Gonska Cultural Fund, and the Department of Art & Design.

All events are free and open to the public

Gina Cholick

Photography | 6PM | 80 Montague Hall | September 29, 2026

Gina Cholick is a Pasadena-based photographer. Working in self-portraiture, she draws from her personal life to explore liminal spaces, fleeting emotions, and who we are beneath the surface of daily life. She currently works as a commercial and fine art photographer. Her work has been exhibited in spaces such as the Los Angeles Center of Photography, the Robert Berman Gallery, the Center for Fine Art Photography, SE Center for Photography, Fabrik Projects Gallery, Tilt Gallery, PhotoPlace Gallery, and the San Diego Art Institute.

Sandra Maxa & Mark Sanders

Graphic Design | 6PM | 80 Montague Hall | October 13, 2026

Sandra Maxa and Mark Sanders are co-founders, partners, and creative directors of Q Collective, a multi-disciplinary design studio includes concept and design of identity systems, publications, websites and exhibitions for businesses, publishing clients, non-profit institutions and arts organizations. Both have also taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Pratt institute, Parsons The New School for Design, and Rutgers University.

Michelle Sunset

6PM | 80 Montague Hall | November 17, 2026

Michelle Sunset (she/her) is the newly appointed curator at the Tweed Museum of Art, departing most recently from the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie, Wyoming. Her exhibition projects – driven by curiosity and collaboration – have been wide-ranging, including Luke Gilford: Portraits of the Queer Frontier (2022), Jenene Nagy: while navigating the distance around the sun (2023; reviewed in ArtForum), and Sympoiesis: Co-Creating Sense of Place (2025).

Sunset has a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Florida. She also holds two Master of Arts degrees from Florida State University: in the History and Criticism of Art with a focus in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies and in Art Education with a specialization in Visitor-Centered Curation.

Dr. Allie Terry-Fritsch

Art History | 6PM | 80 Montague Hall | February 9, 2027

Allie Terry-Fritsch is Professor of Art History at Bowling Green State University. She received her undergraduate training in Art History and Medieval & Renaissance Studies at Duke University and earned her MA and PhD in Italian Renaissance Art History at the University of Chicago. An expert on the art and architecture of fifteenth-century Florence, Dr. Terry-Fritsch has published widely on Cosimo de’ Medici’s strategies of art patronage and the works of Fra Angelico, Donatello, Benozzo Gozzoli, among others.

Alumni Panel

Mixed Area | 6PM | 80 Montague Hall | March 25, 2027

An illustrious group of UMD graduates will contribute points of view on sustaining a creative practice and putting their undergraduate experiences to use. Featuring Rachel Betterley, a 2024 Minnesota Teacher of the Year finalist; Suzanne Schneider, an attorney who double majored in art history and political science and completed a Museum Studies Certificate; Molly and Andrew Rivera, Hastings, MN-based ceramicists; and Benji Wedel, creative director and co-founder of Finden Marketing in Duluth.

Adam Rosenthal

ASE Juror | 6PM | 80 Montague Hall | April 6, 2027

Adam Rosenthal is an architect based in the St. Croix River Valley. Since earning his studio art degree from UMD in 2011 he has had many opportunities including: exhibit fabrication at the Science Museum of Minnesota, earning a masters of Architecture from the University of Minnesota College of Design, contributing to the historic renovation of the Duluth Central High School. He has also aided the creation of Avivo Village, which expanded the gradient of housing and services available to the unhoused, joined a team designing medical education spaces across the country and started a local garden design business.

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