Louis Torres is an independent scholar and arts critic. He completed his undergraduate education at Rutgers University in 1960, majoring in psychology, with a minor in English. Following graduate work in child psychology at the University of Minnesota, he earned an M.A. in the Teaching of English at Teachers College, Columbia University, and taught English, and art and music appreciation, at public and private high schools in New Jersey and New York City. In 1982 he founded Aristos. In addition to co-authoring What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand, he has contributed articles to the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, the Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, and Art Education, as well as to the volume After the Avant-Gardes: Reflections on the Future of the Fine Arts. He is a specialist in the neglected fiction of Jack Schaefer, the author of Shane, on whom he wrote an extensive double-issue article for Aristos. Currently, he is preparing an essay on Andrew Wyeth's black models for publication, as well as researching a new book entitled Trust Betrayed, which examines the role of trustees in avant-garde incursions into traditional art institutions. He is a member of the American Society for Aesthetics, the National Art Education Association, and the National Association of Scholars.
Michelle Marder Kamhi has been associated with Aristos since 1984, becoming co-editor of the print version in 1992. A graduate of Barnard College, she earned an M.A. in Art History at Hunter College, C.U.N.Y., where she concentrated on medieval and Renaissance art, writing her thesis on Piero della Francesca's Uffizi diptych. Prior to her association with Aristos, she was an editor at Columbia University Press. She is a member of the American Society for Aesthetics, the National Art Education Association, the National Association of Scholars, and the International Association of Art Critics. In addition to co-authoring What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand, she is the author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts and Bucking the Artworld Tide: Reflections on Art, Pseudo Art, Art Education & Theory. She has contributed articles to the Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, Arts Education Policy Review, and Academic Questions, among other publications, and also publishes on her blog, For Piero's Sake.