Our Team

I was born in Todi where I spent the first 20 years of my life. As a professor at the University of Milan, I was involved in the quality, safety and ethics of food production for 40 years. After retirement, I cultivated as a hobby the theme of the quality of extra virgin olive oil, which I consider a miracle of nature. In year 2017 I accidentally met Jacopone’s poetry and spirituality and I was so deeply involved that Jacopone became since – after my family - the all-encompassing interest of my life.

I am an archaeologist, based in Dublin. Along with my wife Louise, I accidentally discovered Umbria and Todi almost twenty years ago and we have been returning regularly ever since. In Todi we accidentally discovered Claudio Peri and through him we discovered Jacopone. Todi and Jacopone are now an important part of my life and I look forward to further accidents.

I have worked in many careers including hospitality, retail and for the last 20 years in Digital Communications and Web Design. I recently retired and I am enjoying the slower pace of life. I am a qualified Spiritual Director and have always had a fascination for the mystics. Little did I know that when I started to visit Todi almost 20 years ago, I would be getting to know Jacopone with each visit, thanks to Claudio Peri. I live in Dublin, Ireland with my husband Andy and our dog Laoise.

I am an art historian and curator. Although my research and exhibitions focus on modern and contemporary American art, I have had a special place in my heart for Italy and her art and architecture ever since I was a student in Florence over 30 years ago.

In 2019, I met and fell in love with Ken, who introduced me to Todi, Claudio, and Jacopone. Now we have a house in Todi, and, in addition to my work on this newsletter, I look forward to connecting with the city's vibrant artist community.

I am an architect-artist-builder-developer and have operated Ken Gaylord Architects and Black Hawk Construction as a singular organization in Asheville, North Carolina since 1995. In 2019 I returned to Umbria where I had visited 38 years previously as an architecture student and Todi became my Italian home. Upon returning to Asheville in the late summer of 2019, I met Julie Caro who has become my life co-conspirator. We have returned to Todi many times and find ourselves engulfed with Todi friends in the exploration of the 13th Century poet, Jacopone da Todi.