Tory Schendel-Vyvoda is a curator, lecturer, author, and artist-philosopher. She works for the Evansville African American Museum, the Lamasco Microgallery, and the University of Evansville. She earned her bachelor’s from Indiana University and her master’s from Johns Hopkins University. She is pursuing her PhD at the Institute of Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. She serves on the boards or committees of numerous nonprofits.

She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals such as the Informal Learning Review, Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, Illinois Women Artists Project, Feminist Theology: The Journal of Britain and Ireland School of Feminist Theology, and Magistra: A Journal of Women’s Spirituality in History. In addition, she is working with a team of scholars to co-author The Origins of Prejudice: Dangerous Opinions and Beliefs by Berghahn Books.

Furthermore, she was featured in a PBS documentary for her research on Evansville’s Black History and is Smithsonian-certified for completing the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Ethical Interpretation Workshop. In 2023, she received the Indiana University Liberal Arts Career Achievement Award, was named one of the 2023 Top 20 Women in Business in Evansville, Indiana, and was honored with the 2024 Arts Council Award for excellence in academic, institutional, and neighborhood-based arts research, programming, and engagement. In 2025, she won the Individual Award in Arts and Culture for the City of Evansville's Celebration of Leadership (COL), Leadership Everyone. 

Tory is also an active artist who exhibits her artwork nationally.