Louisa “Lou” Lara

Louisa "Lou" Lara was born and raised in the Chicagoland area and grew up in a Mexican- American immigrant household. She is passionate about her Mexican heritage, culture, museums, and anthropology.

Lara attended Indiana State University and majored in anthropology and history. During her undergraduate studies, she gained a new perspective and appreciation of museum studies and collections. She began working with Dr. Alex Badillo's photogrammetry laboratory, working on various projects, including 3D modeling and reconstruction of local tombstones in Indiana, prehistoric pottery at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, biological specimens at the Indiana State University biology laboratory, and aiding in the painting of a Zapotec digital replica of Monte Alban, Oaxaca. Lara also attended field school at the Center of American Anthropology under the direction of Dr. Jason King and learned valuable field and lab work lessons. In addition, Lara became very interested in museum curatorial and public work while working at the Terre Haute Children's Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview, Illinois. 

Lara is currently completing the master's portion of her PhD coursework under the advisement of Dr. Loa Traxler. Her research will focus on Mesoamerican archaeology within Maya cultural aesthetics and color theory.