Staff
Gwen Strauss
Since the founding of the Dora Maar House residency program in 2007, Gwen Strauss has been the primary person working on-site, first as the assistant director and then as the director. Before coming to work at the Dora Maar House, Strauss was the director of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s campus in Lacoste. She is also a working writer. Her books include: The Hiding Game, a Middle Grade Reader about artists hiding in Marseille with the help of Varian Fry in 1940; Trail of Stones, a book of poetry; The Night Shimmy, a children’s book; and Ruth and the Green Book, which received wide recognition including the ALA 2011 Most Notable Middle Grade Reader and Honor book for the Jane Adam’s Peace Prize. Her most recent work is The Nine, (May 2021) follows the true story of Strauss’ great aunt, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.
MacKenzie Mercurio
MacKenzie Mercurio moved to Provence in 2017 after finishing her b.f.a. in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design. MacKenzie has worked in numerous galleries and boutiques in Texas, Georgia, and France and has worked as a marketing consulate for over a decade. As a Houston, Texas native, she found it kismet when Gwen reached out to her in 2021 about an open position at the DMCC, founded by another Houston native, Nancy Brown Negley. MacKenzie is also a fine art and commercial photographer, having previously worked for Universal Music Group in New York City, and has exhibited in the United States, France, Italy, Scotland, and Hungary.
Laurence Varenik
Laurence Varenik is the “governess” of the Dora Maar House and Hotel de Tingry. She grew up in the mountains of the Alps, but twenty years ago she was drawn to the sunny south. At that time, Laurence began to develop her business as governess at various other homes. She passed the baton of her business to a young entrepreneur and joined the DMCC team in 2020 alongside Gwen, and later MacKenzie and Amy. Apart from that, Laurence always finds something to keep herself busy, between sewing, bike rides, her vegetable garden and her beloved chickens.
CAMILLE BERGAGNINI
Camille Bergagnini hails from the southwest of France. She studied in Bordeaux, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Cultural Management. After completing an internship at the Dora Maar Cultural Center in 2022, she had various professional experiences, including at the Villa Albertine in New York and the Villa Gillet in Lyon. She enjoyed her first experience in the heart of Provence, and is currently back in Ménerbes to replace MacKenzie Mercurio during her maternity leave.
