Who We Are

Kristen Laakso, Director

After stints in Los Angeles, the South Pacific, Cambridge, England -- and a brief foray into North Dakota -- Kristen landed in Paris in 1997, armed with undergraduate and graduate degrees in French literature from the University of Southern California. At USC, she focused on 16th-century memoir writing for her graduate work, while teaching French to undergrads for five years.

In Paris, Kristen leapt immediately into the city's cultural life. As an editor at Where magazine, Kristen helped English-speaking visitors discover the hidden treasures of Paris. But it was a year of intensive art-historical study at Christie's that pulled her irresistibly into the world of art.

"As much as I love the richness of the French language, I discovered that history came alive for me more vividly in the galleries of French museums than in the pages of French books," she says.

Kristen joined Paris Muse in 2003 as a specialist in medieval art and literature, leading the tours of Notre Dame and Musée de Cluny, the national museum of medieval art. In 2005, she became managing director of Paris Muse, before becoming director in July 2009.

When she's not taking families on scavenger hunts in the Louvre or deciphering the facade of Notre Dame for clients, she loves taking her two daughters to play in the gardens of the Palais Royale or scouring the city’s bakeries for the perfect lemon tart.

Ellen McBreen, Founder

Ellen started Paris Muse in 2002, soon after moving to Paris for graduate school. While working on her dissertation, she was teaching part-time for the American University of Paris: “I began to notice that my classes in the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay generated a wake of curious museum-goers who were tagging along. I never had any plans to make a business of it, but people really seemed to be looking for a meaningful alternative to being herded around in big, impersonal tour groups.”

“Since then, we’ve grown, but we’ve also kept to our roots as a small company catering to the education of individuals in an age of packaged and over-processed travel.”

Ellen has a BA from Harvard University and a PhD in art history from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. She is an Assistant Professor at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. She is currently completing a book for Yale University Press about Henri Matisse's sculpture and researching for a future museum exhibition about Matisse's personal collection. Ellen and her husband divide their time between Paris and Providence, Rhode Island.

Carrie Bisbee, Assistant Director

Originally from Iowa, Carrie made Paris her home in 2004 after living in all corners of the US. Her professional background is in museum education. Before moving to France, she worked in American museums—including the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Illinois State Museum—developing and implementing programs for children and families. Her academic background is in education and museum studies, areas she combined while writing her Masters thesis on art museum education in France and the United States.

“Museums are the best kind of classroom, and I feel honored to teach in one of the finest classrooms in the world—the Louvre!”

When not giving tours herself, Carrie researches and develop programs for Paris Muse designed to give families a meaningful travel experience. She has been Assistant Director of Paris Muse since 2009. “One of my goals is to inspire the next generation of museum-goers, one family at a time.”

She also enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, exploring unknown neighborhoods in Paris, and introducing her young son to historic sites and museums.

Pamela Warner

Pamela divides her time between Paris and Providence, RI, where she is professor of modern art history at the University of Rhode Island: “It's always a pleasure to come back to Paris and start giving tours again. I wish all my students were as enthusiastic as my Paris Musers!"

Pamela completed her PhD at the University of Delaware in 2005. She wrote her dissertation on two 19th-century French art critics and Paris-o-philes, the Goncourt brothers: “I love telling stories: stories in the art, and stories about the art. That’s probably why I chose to focus my academic research on art critics--the people who told the stories about art in the past.”

Pamela’s husband is a Swiss-French artist who has helped open her eyes to the ways artists work: “I hope to let some of this passion shine through in my teaching and guiding.”

Inge Laino

Inge is a Belgian-American historian and translator who has lived in Paris for the past seven years. After her degree in classics and art history, she served in the US Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa. Since moving to France, Inge worked both as an instructor at the American University of Paris and guide at the Madeleine basilica in Vézelay, Burgundy, where she was also a resident translator for historical texts on monasticism in medieval Europe. Inge is currently pursuing a masters degree in linguistics and translation at the Sorbonne’s l'Ecole Supérieure d'Interprètes et de Traducteurs. When she is not hitting the books, she leads tours for Paris Muse at Notre Dame, Cluny, and the Louvre.

Alex Toledano

Born and raised in New Jersey, Alex has shuttled back and forth between the Bay Area and Paris since 2005. Now anchored in Paris, he is writing his Ph.D. history dissertation on Parisian neighborhoods, streets, and public space since the 1960s. He holds an A.B. in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University and a M.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. Alex originally came to Paris in 2004 to learn to play gypsy jazz guitar in the style of Django Reinhardt and it occupies most of his free time here in the city. Most recently, he was the Music Supervisor and performer on the soundtrack for the D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus film, "Kings of Pastry," a documentary about the Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition in patisserie.

Barbara Montefalcone

Born in Italy as daughter to two French teachers, Barbara was introduced to French culture at an early age. She visited Paris for the first time when she was eleven and dreamt about living in the city one day. After an BA in foreign literatures and art in Italy and an M.A. and PhD at the University of Lyon (France) where she wrote a thesis on American poetry and art, Barbara was finally able to move to her beloved city. She is interested in both art and literature and specializes in the connections between the two, through the tradition of artists’ books.

When she is not working as a Paris Muse docent, Barbara teaches American literature at a French university. She also works as an independent author for magazines and exhibition catalogues in both France and Italy. Barbara is the author of two books of short stories in Italian. She loves sharing her passion for art and having long walks in the Louvre, particularly through the Italian Renaissance galleries where she feels especially at home.

Mary Johnson

Born and raised in Africa, Mary has traveled extensively throughout the world. Her research on the Maison de Verre, a modern architectural icon in the 7th arrondissement, brought her back to Paris, where she had once studied as an exchange student from Georgia Tech.

As she continues work on her dissertation, Mary also serves as docent for the Maison de Verre, and Program Director for the School of Architecture and Planning at The Catholic University of America. She is pursuing her PhD in Architectural Representation and Education at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Consortium of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. When not teaching and leading tours for Paris Muse, Mary enjoys hanging out with her two teenage daughters.

Marya Osucha

Hailing from northern California, Marya relocated to Paris in 2008, having been indelibly charmed by its winding narrow streets, countless artistic treasures, and flavorful macarons. She holds a BA in Visual Culture and an MA in Art History, both from the University of California at Davis. While completing her graduate work she discovered a passion for teaching and the satisfaction that comes with awakening artistic insight in others. Today she is delighted to share that passion with travelers from around the world, using the original artworks as a source of inspiration!

Since arriving in Paris her experiences of the art world have been wide and varied: from the industrial climes of an artist’s Montparnasse studio, to chic vernissages of experimental artists, and finally to the inspiring masterpieces in the galleries of the Louvre. When not musing on the dynamism of Michelangelo’s Captives she can be found writing exhibition reviews, studying French language at the Sorbonne, or picnicking in one of Paris’ amazing gardens.

Miranda Westwood

Originally from London, Miranda has been living in Paris on and off for the past 10 years. She has a BA Honours in Fine Art and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. A stint running the lectures programme at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London was followed by a permanent move to Paris in 2005.

Previously a guide at the architecture galleries of the V&A, London, and the Fondation Cartier in Paris, Miranda’s interests are diverse and include 19th and 20th century art and contemporary architecture. When not leading tours for Paris Muse, Miranda can be found either researching articles for the UK architectural press or building sandcastles with her two young sons, in some of Paris’s many wonderful parks and gardens.

Jennifer Donnelly

Based in Paris for over a decade, Jennifer now divides her time between the City of Light and the Swiss Alps. Her passion for art was stoked while growing up in the same Pennsylvania countryside captured in the paintings by Andrew Wyeth. Her masters and doctoral work at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and the Université de Paris-VII focused on the history of museums.

‘For me,’ Jennifer says, ‘a museum is basically a collection of stories, and sharing these with people is endlessly fascinating.’ Her love for storytelling comes through in her fiction writing, which often incorporates works of art as themes and characters. Her undergraduate study of the classics, philosophy and literature also strongly colors her approach to art. She frequently publishes and presents her scholarly work and is active in several nonprofit arts organisations. When not haunting galleries and libraries Jennifer is often found wandering up or down mountain slopes.

Elisa Foster

Elisa began her graduate studies focusing on Spain but found herself on a reverse pilgrimage from Santiago de Compostela, wandering over the Pyrenees, where she became enamored with the cathedrals of France.
Raised in Texas, she moved to Paris for dissertation research. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art and Architecture at Brown University where she focuses on late medieval and early renaissance French art and architecture. Elisa credits her love of art history to her many childhood visits to Europe, and especially to Paris.

Elisa is passionate about teaching. She holds a Master’s in Teaching from Simmons College and has taught art history at Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas at Arlington. She loves teaching in museums, and has worked as a graduate intern at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is thrilled to share her interest and enthusiasm for the visual arts in the great museums of Paris, where she gives tours at the Musée Cluny, Notre-Dame, and the Louvre.

In addition to giving tours for Paris Muse, Elisa enjoys exploring the cafés of Paris, which she balances out with her love for Bikram yoga.

Holly Barton

Holly has lived in Paris for the last four years, and has found plenty of opportunities to combine her interests and studies with work she loves. When not leading tours for Paris Muse, Holly teaches English at a French university, and Art History at Parsons Paris School of Art and Design.

Before moving to Paris Holly completed an MA in the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London. While living in London, she worked in several museums, including the Art Department of the Imperial War Museum, and the Museum Archive at the British Museum. She also worked as a picture researcher on a project for Phaidon Press, and in a specialist art booksellers on the Charing Cross Road.

Christopher Back

Originally from California, Christopher moved to Paris in 2001 after working in the technology industry, most recently in London. Soon after arriving, he immersed himself in local culture while studying French and art history at the Sorbonne. This experience inspired him to continue his studies at Christie’s Education France, where he focused on French art, architecture and decorative arts.

Christopher later formalized his long-standing enthusiasm for French food and wine by training at both the Cordon Bleu and the Ritz École de Cuisine. These experiences ultimately led him to a memorable stint working in the kitchens of the Hotel Ritz.

Christopher enjoys sharing his lifelong interest in the arts with visitors at both the Musée d’Orsay or Musée du Louvre.

Min Lee

Min was born in Seoul, raised in Philadelphia, and worked in Oregon and Chicago before moving to Paris in 2007. She holds a BA in urban studies and in art and architectural history, an MA in art history and is working on a dual-doctoral degree in Chicago and Paris in architectural history and sociology. Her research on the relationship between cartography and architecture has received funding from the American, French, and German governments. While her research and teaching specializations are modern and contemporary architecture, her true architectural love is ancient Greece.

Her approach to architecture focuses on urban and social contexts: buildings should not be studied in isolation but through its relationship to its surroundings both in time and in space. For this reason, Paris is an ideal city with its many layers of history and its life as a contemporary city, and she loves to guide visitors to see its profound complexity. When not teaching or writing, Min can be found on a plane, train, boat, car, bike, or even a horse, exploring cities and architectural sites all over the world.

Katie Hornstein

Originally from California, Katie Hornstein devised a career-path to satisfy her chronic Francophilia. As an undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley, Katie majored in Art History and French, and studied abroad in Lyon, France for a year. After graduating, she returned to France to teach English at a French high school and intern at the Centre Pompidou. She headed back to the United States in 2003 to begin a PhD at the University of Michigan which eventually allowed her to move back to Paris for dissertation research on a Fulbright Fellowship. After defending her dissertation on nineteenth-century French representations of war in 2010, Katie received a post-doctoral fellowship. When not touring, she spends her time revising her doctoral thesis into a book, and eating her way through Paris.

Pascale Rihouet

Pascale is a born and bred Parisienne. She graduated from Brown University with a PhD in Art History in 2008. Prior to earning her doctorate degree, she worked as a professional tour guide in Parisian museums and monuments for ten years. Pascale is now a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. She divides her time between Providence and Paris, spending about four months each year researching in France. She is passionate about Italian art, biking, cinema, and yoga.

Dennis Prior

Dennis is a young Australian architect who divides his time between academia and professional practice. Currently living in Paris he can be found enjoying the delights (and vices) of the city of light. When not teaching or guiding architectural history walks for Paris Muse (“Historic Heart of Paris” and “Explaining Eiffel”) he is working on perfecting his French at the Sorbonne.

Dennis was educated primarily at The University of Melbourne, but also studied at the Technische Universiteit Delft in The Netherlands. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture receiving the prize for Architectural Design. He also holds a Bachelor of Planning and Design. Dennis has worked in a number of successful and award-winning architectural practices, while also holding teaching and research positions at The University of Melbourne and Monash University. He has been a guest critic at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Dennis has a passion for discussing and debating architecture and particularly enjoys exploring the wider contexts within which design operates.

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