Trained archaeologist and art historian Ava Forte Vitali aims to bridge the gap between the educated, academic community and the eager, interested public. She was the Egyptologist-in-Residence at the Morbid Anatomy Library and Museum in Brooklyn, NY from 2014-2016, where her series "Death and the Occult in the Ancient World," was a Time Out NY's 'Critics Pick" and she still actively lectures with them a few times every year. Ava has excavated in both Egypt and Turkey, and completed her Master's Degree at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, with a focus on domestic cult and magic in ancient Egypt. She is an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, where she teaches Intro to Egyptian Art. She also works to produce immersive educational experiences, such as simulated mummy unwrappings for a variety of settings.

Ava has previous experience working in multiple archives, as a hands on arts instructor, and has curated quite the jewelry collection from her time in the fashion industry as a high volume Accessories Manager. Her previous work includes collection management for Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and as Lead Project Manager for Picturae, overseeing cultural heritage digitization projects throughout Libraries, Archives and Museums in North America.

Currently, Ava is the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for the children's book publisher Scholastic, where she also oversees The Possible Fund, their corporate giving initiative. Ava also has a side project where she designs, procures, and consults on vintage or creative costuming and production design for local theater and movie productions. She has had multiple short films screened at the Museum of Moving Image, and was nominated for multiple awards from the Sparrow Film Project, including Best Film, Editing, Use of Music, and won for Production Design and Costumes (twice!).

A Boston native, Ava has lived in New York City for 20 years, and is President of the Greater Astoria Historical Society. She spends her time enjoying her local neighborhood in Queens, quirky and offbeat museum culture, a variety of flea and antique markets, a fair number of heavy metal shows and probably too much Sci-Fi television.

She is available for public lectures on pop culture and archaeology, and costuming, procurement, and production design consultation for theater and film, and has consulted on ancient Egyptian topics for a number of different fiction and non-fiction publications and children's books.