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Biography:

Dawn Cunningham examines medieval art through the lens of networks of exchange in which material objects play an active role.  However, after encountering her first art forgery during graduate school, Cunningham realized that this type of crime is understudied and in dire need of attention.  Thus, she also developed research interests in art forgeries and illusions by examining deceptive art from across time and from around the globe.  Her recent research focuses on art forgery’s impact on our knowledge of history and various cultures as she seeks to expand our understanding of these specious objects as part of complex mercantile, legal, and artistic networks rather than as simple fodder for entertaining stories.  Due to her interest in a broad range of topics and her background in continuing education, Cunningham enjoys engaging the community in discussions about art history to foster public dialogue about the discoveries and innovations made by scholars. 

Courses Taught:

ARTH 120A Art in the West (Ancient to Renaissance)

ARTH 120B Art in the West (Renaissance to Contemporary)

ARTH 212 Medieval Art

ARTH 214 Renaissance Art Before 1500

ARTH 215 Renaissance Art After 1500

ARTH 307 Romanesque Art

ARTH 308 Gothic Art

ARTH 312 Quattrocento Painting

ARTH 391 Art Forgeries

Stream: Treatment

Specialization: Artifacts

Areas of Interest: Textiles, pigments and dyes, traditional Japanese craftwork, preventive conservation, instrumental analysis

Hannah Lamport graduated cum laude in field with departmental high honours from Harvard College in 2023, where she received a Bachelor of Arts for a joint concentration in Chemistry and History of Art and Architecture. Her research explored the introduction of synthetic pigments in Meiji-era Japan and their effect on kimono production.

She spent two years with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, where she worked closely with the collections, conservation, and family & youth experiences departments. She was a key presenter at the IAMFA 2024 conference, where she spoke on the mitigation and treatment of TMP-ol efflorescence growing on display case objects.

Stream: Treatment

Specialization: Artifacts

Areas of Interest: accessibility of art and heritage to communities, wooden artifacts conservation, modern and contemporary art conservation, evolution of ceramics in the Greek world from the Archaic to the Early Byzantine period

Laurie graduated with high distinction from Concordia University with a BFA in Art History. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a French and English editor for CUJAH, Concordia’s Undergraduate Journal of Art History. She also volunteered to install exhibitions within various art organizations such as the artist-run center Oboro and the public art festival Art Souterrain. During the last year of her undergraduate studies, she gained experience in field archaeology at Université de Montréal’s field school in Greece. She then worked to document the dig’s findings through archaeological drawings, both in the field and at Université de Montréal, through a research assistantship. After her studies, she developed her interest in organic materials by gaining woodworking experience at ÉÉAM, l’École d’ébenisterie d’art de Montréal.

Stream: Treatment

Specialization: Artifacts

Areas of Interest: Archaeology, Baroque and Rococo art

Mahlia Toffoli graduated from Queen’s University in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and a minor in Classics. During her undergraduate degree, she gained experience working at historical sites through Parks Canada and Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. as a historical interpreter. She volunteered at Parks Canada Agency Laboratories, gaining conservation experience. In addition, she participated in a month-long archaeological excavation at the historic site of Stobi in North Macedonia in 2023, where she contributed to excavating the site, and cleaned and catalogued primarily ceramics and organic material. In her free time, she enjoys oil painting, knitting and reading.