What’s one of your strongest memories of a museum or exhibition from your childhood?

I vividly remember going to a living history museum called Old Cowtown Museum on a field trip in elementary school. During one part of the tour, our class piled into the dimly lighted jail where there was what appeared to be a mannequin lying on a bunk in a cell. After our guide had finished his description of the jail, the “mannequin” sat up and began drunkenly wobbling and blubbering. The whole class jumped and rushed out of the building. Of course, it was an interpreter, but at the time I had no idea what a living history interpreter was. But it left a lasting memory of my first visit to the frontier West.

What first attracted you to a career in the museum field?

I worked in both the Wichita Art Museum and the Wichita – Sedgwick County Historical Museum when I was younger. I’d like to say that I was intrigued initially by the collections or the idea of informal learning, but I liked them really because they were so different from any other places that a teenager can work. Years later, I thought about those differences, which only lead me to spend more time in museums. I realized that these peculiar and wonderful places were where I wanted to be.

What roles have you served within cultural organizations?

Most people who have worked for a museum know that the museum community practically invented the phrase “wearing many hats.” I’ve held a variety of positions that primarily related to the management of the collection, such as registrar and archivist.

What sorts of projects have you been involved with within the museum community?

As a collections manager, I’ve constructed and refined collections management databases, coordinated collections relocations and acted as a spokesperson for the collection to exhibition development committees.

I’ve worked to bring the registrar out of secluded collections storage areas to become a visible and personable representative who furthers organizational relationships with donors and artists. I have formed and directed teams of volunteers and interns to catalogue objects and to create online exhibitions. Working as a consultant, I have aided organizations developing strategic planning and educational curricula.

What’s a personal goal you have with regard to museum consulting?

Like most consultants, I’ve worked as a leader and manager within the museum community. However, it’s my experience as a “soldier in the trenches” that I consider a real boon. I remember what it’s like to work in the museum gift shop, the cafeteria, and in inhospitable collections storage areas.

As a consultant, I hope to provide an outlet for the voices of those engaged on the front lines of cultural organizations: the security guards, the research assistants, the visitor services associates, the preparators. In their opinion, what about the museum works well? What needs improvement? I aim to use this rich source of information to recommend courses of action that consider a more inclusive idea of institutional vitality.

Name an exhibition that you have seen that stands out in your mind.

The Exploratorium’s exhibitions consistently live up to their reputation for excellence. Revealing Bodies was no exception. I appreciated the beauty that can be found in the worlds of anatomy and biology and how new medical technologies allow us to explore both the human body and new artistic media.