Former museum programs assistant Kendall Rogers
Achievements In February, museum staff traveled to Milledgeville, Georgia, to share their knowledge and learn from others at the annual Georgia Association of Museums Conference. Tricia Miller , deputy director of collections and exhibitions and head registrar, served as a panelist for the session “Behind Closed Doors: Stories for Survival During a Collections Storage Renovation.” Michele Turner , director of donor relations, presented the session “Membership vs. Donorship? What’s Right for Your Institution?” Hillary Brown , director of communications, presented “Publishing Profits Museums.” And Callan Steinmann , head of education and curator of academic and public programs, facilitated the Georgia Museum Educators Roundtable. Later that month, assistant registrar Grace Burns won the 2025 Günther Stamm Prize for her paper “Masking the Bacchic Floor: Materiality and Theatrically in the Cummer Mask Mosaic” during the annual graduate student symposium hosted by Florida State University’s art history department. Her paper will be included in the next volume of “Athanor,” a graduate student journal published in the fall. In March, several staff members attended the National Art Education Association convention held in Louisville, Kentucky, where associate curator of education Mallory Lind gave a presentation on the use of tactile art and verbal descriptions for blind and visually impaired visitors at art museums. During the convention, Callan Steinmann was selected to serve as the NAEA Museum Division Southeastern Region director-elect, a four-year commitment. In her new leadership role, Steinmann will work closely with other division leaders to support the work of art museum educators through professional development opportunities, advancing scholarship and publications and helping organize the annual conference. Steinmann has also been selected to participate in the High Museum Institute for Teaching with Art, a weeklong professional development program held in Atlanta in August. During the program, the cohort will participate in a variety of activities to expand their knowledge of museum education as a discipline, deepen their practice with peers and articulate their teaching philosophies.
Tricia Miller was one of four women featured in “Celebrating Inspiring Athens Women,” an article published by Visit Athens in honor of Women’s History Month. The article can be read on the Athens Views blog at visitathensga.com, and an accompanying video can be found on Instagram at @ visitathensga. In April, Parris Baker-Coley , deputy director of business operations, completed High Impact Leadership, a seven- week program hosted by UGA Human Resources Learning and Development. In addition to learning about effective group communication, trust-building, problem-solving skills and different leadership styles, he explored conflict management, emotional intelligence and the concept of “Immunity to Change.” Using insights from Gallup’s CliftonStrengths, Baker-Coley identified his natural talents and developed strategies for improving day-to-day leadership. Beyond his role in public relations at the museum, Michael Lachowski is a talented musician and visual artist who works in photography, graphic design and mixed media. In April, UGA’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts hosted a solo exhibition of his color landscape photographs that captured “nature at its least groomed and grandiose, exploring a density and variety that we can only barely comprehend, much less represent through art.” These selections were presented alongside a photo series of clouds, offering a glimpse of ephemeral and intangible beauty. The exhibition was organized by Didi Dunphy, who curated the museum’s upcoming traveling exhibition “Seams to Be.” Lachowski also participated in the third annual Athens Art Book, Print & Zine Fair at the Athenaeum in June. Alexis Gorby , the museum’s associate curator of academic and campus engagement, was selected to attend the Attingham Summer School, in England, on a full scholarship this July. Hosted by the Attingham Trust, the Attingham Summer School is a 16-day residential course dedicated to examining the architectural and social history of the historic house in Britain. During her travels, Gorby visited a variety of country houses, palaces, gardens and collections
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