Meet a Colleague: Andrea Lepage

Meet a Colleague: Andrea Lepage Andrea Lepage serves as the Pamela H. Simpson Professor of Art History.

W&L News Office
April 1, 2026

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I've been teaching art history at W&L since 2008.

Q. If you chose a different path, what other career would you have?
Maybe I would have chosen to be a travel agent. Or really any job where I get to curate experiences and help people discover some of the most incredible art in the world. (It's possible I've just described my actual job!)

Q. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Maine - so I have what is probably an unusual enthusiasm for shoveling snow and some pretty strong opinions about lobster.

Q. What was your favorite subject in school?
In elementary school it was recess. I loved being outside - playing soccer, dodgeball or sliding down snowbanks. Honestly, I think reinstating morning and afternoon recess in adult life would be great. A scheduled break for exercise and play sounds pretty fabulous.

Q. Name one person from history you would like to spend a day with and why.
I was going to pick a historical figure like the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, but honestly, if I could spend a day with anyone it would be my Pépère (my grandfather). He passed away when I was 16 and loved technology and gadgets. I'd be curious to hear what he thinks about today's technology. I'd also like to thank him for what turned out to be the best life advice I've ever received - "Never let anyone else determine your speed."

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
It always catches my attention when people capitalize the "P" in my last name. Lepage is the standard French-Canadian/Québécois spelling, and it carries some important cultural significance for me, having grown up in a predominantly Franco-American town in Maine. My understanding is that the capital "P" is an Anglicized variation, but my family uses the French version.

Q. What do you like to do away from work?
I like to see art - this is shocking, I know.

Q. What is your least favorite chore at home?
I've come to enjoy chores - doing them gives you time to think.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
My first real adventure came after college, when I moved to Ecuador with very little money and almost no plan except to teach English. At the time I didn't speak a word of Spanish and didn't know anyone there. I met incredible people, saw so much art, ate amazing food and traveled to spectacular places - from mountains and cloud forests to the jungle and small beach towns. The experience taught me that it's okay not to always have a plan, and that being open and a little brave can take you far. I'd like to think I've had many more adventures since then.

Q. What is your all-time favorite food or food dish?
It's hard to pick because I love to eat. But if I had to choose, the French-Canadian dish tourtière reminds me of childhood and I could happily live on Spanish tapas.

Q. If you could choose one series to binge-watch, what would it be?
Right now, I seem to have a six-episode hockey-themed series playing on repeat.

Q. What song or artist could you play on repeat?
I live in a household of musicians, so there's a lot of live Old Time music in our home every day. We're lucky to live in a part of the world that seems to have an unusually high number of world-class Old Time musicians.

Q. Tell us something most people don't know about you.
I only own/drive cars with a manual transmission.