The Willits Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the next installment of Art Talks, a public lecture series devoted to expanding community engagement with global art history and contemporary cultural issues. On May 8, 2026, the Center will welcome Ruby Ming, an arts educator and museum-programming specialist, who will present an illuminating lecture on fraud, theft, and deception in the history of art. Her talk will explore the intertwined worlds of connoisseurship, material analysis, cultural value, and the complex legal and ethical questions that arise when authenticity is contested.

Ming brings more than a decade of experience across museums, cultural institutions, and academic settings, with a professional portfolio that spans public programming, museum education, curriculum development, and community-centered arts engagement. Her interdisciplinary background positions her to address the phenomenon of art fraud not only as a historical curiosity but as a lens through which to consider questions of power, cultural exchange, and the shifting boundaries of expertise.
This event is free to the public and is part of the Center’s mission to cultivate accessible, research-driven art education for Willits and the surrounding region.