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Council Roster

The TAM Council is comprised of 14 elected members (voting) plus the TAM regional and affinity group chairs who serve ex officio without vote. The elected Council includes five officers, eight Councillors-at-large, and the Past President. In accordance with the TAM By-Laws, Council members are elected to two-year terms by the TAM membership. The Council meets a minimum of four times per year.

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Home > About TAM > Council Roster

Current Council Roster

OFFICERS

COUNCILLORS-AT-LARGE

President
Kelli Pickard became the Director of the Log Cabin Village Historical Complex, a living history museum in Fort Worth, Texas, in June 1998. She previously served as Director of the Red River Historical Museum of Sherman for 3 ½ years. Kelli graduated from the University of North Texas in 1994 with a MS in Applied History (Museum and Archival Studies), and from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BA in History and Anthropology in 1993. Kelli is a 1996 graduate of the Winedale Museum Seminar on Administration and Interpretation. She has been an active member of the Texas Association of Museums since 1993, and is currently co-chair of the Historic House/Site Affinity Group and Vice President of Programs for the Texas Association of Museums. Kelli has also served as a presenter at several TAM Annual Meetings, on the TAM Program Committee for two years, and as a TAM Council member since 2001. In August 2006, she was appointed to serve on the Museum Assessment Program Advisory Committee for the American Association of Museums.

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Kathy Shannon, is the Executive Director of the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas. She served as Director of Education for 10 years before moving to Executive Director in November of 2004. While in education, she developed community focused programs directed to area families and museum programs such as Science Symposium, and Earth Science Day by working with companies to emphasize science to students. Kathy also oversaw the museum’s traveling exhibit program, responsible for major exhibits such as Lone Star Dinosaurs, Magic Schoolbus, and Beakman’s World. Kathy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Texas Tech. She held several prominent positions with volunteer organizations in Midland before coming to work for the museum. Kathy has been active in TAMEC serving as the history representative and is active in the Permian Basin Museum Association, serving as secretary and president.

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Vice President for Development

Cliff Vanderpool is from Crofton, Maryland, and graduated from Arundel High School. He attended college in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduate school at Middle Tennessee State University (M.A. History) and the University of Alabama. He has taught history classes at the University of Alabama, Southern Methodist University, Texarkana College, and West Texas A&M University. Prior to becoming the Director of the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in April 2004, he was Executive Director of the Texarkana Museums System from 1994 to 2004, and Curator at the Dallas Historical Society from 1992 to 1994. He is past-president of the Arkansas Museums Association and is currently on the Council of the Texas Association of Museums.

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Secretary

Priscilla Ann Rodriquez is the Executive Director of the Brownsville Historical Association, which manages the Brownsville Heritage Complex: Stillman House Museum, Brownsville Heritage Museum and Heritage Resource Center. She is responsible for the daily management of the complex and is also working to expand the Association’s grounds. She has implemented plans to preserve Brownsville’s historic cemetery and the development of a cemetery visitor center. She is also working with city officials to restore Brownsville’s old Market Square building. When completed, the building will house 3 new BHA museums and a cultural center. She previously served as Curator of Exhibitions at the International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen.

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Treasurer

Robert Oliver graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism (BJ), in “Advertising Studies.” Post graduation, he lived in Vail, Colorado for 25 years, involved in property management and marketing -- creating small property management company in the 80's before returning home to Cuero in 1995. Since January 2000, Mr. Oliver has served in leadership position with the creation of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum in Cuero, Texas, acting as board chair since 2001.

The Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum project encapsulates the ideals and principles of preserving cultural and architectural heritage through the purchase of an endangered historic building. A former (c. 1903) Knights of Pythias Hall was purchased with the purpose of creating a ranching / cowboy history museum focusing on the great cattle drive era of the late 19th century. The museum’s permanent display and collection will be located on the ground floor of the two-story, 10,000 sq. ft. historic structure, with multi-purpose community facilities above.

Mr. Oliver served on TAM’s 2005 annual conference planning committee.

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Past President

Lisa Rebori is Director of Collections at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. She is responsible for the administration of the museum's Permanent Collections Department, including collections numbering over 2 million. She is involved in temporary and permanent exhibitions and long-range planning. She revised the museum's collections policy and oversaw the refocusing of the collections and accompanying deaccessioning. She supervised the expansion, renovation, and moving of the Museum's collections and storage facilities. Before moving to Texas, she was a research aide and curatorial aide at The Museum, Michigan State University (MSU). Lisa holds a B. S. from MSU in Museum Studies. An active member of TAM, (Vice President, Treasurer, Councillor-at-Large, Annual Meeting Program Committee), and the Collection Managers Committee (Treasurer & Chair). Lisa has also been a workshop organizer and presenter at CMC workshops and TAM Annual Meetings and helped in the development of the TAM Environmental Monitoring Kit program.

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Councillors-at-Large

Anne Allen. Ms. Allen is currently project manager for Fort Worth Public Art. Prior to moving back to Texas in 1999, she was consulting director for the Gallery at Rivendell, Rivendell Winery, in Gardiner, NY and managing associate for Working Solo, Inc., a small business consulting company in New Paltz, NY.

Ms. Allen's involvement in contemporary art is life-long and stems from her training as an artist. She has an MFA in metals from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is actively involved in the arts community in Arlington and throughout Texas, and has served as a grants review panelist for both the Arts Council of Fort Worth and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Ms. Allen has been an active member of the Texas Association of Museums since 1999, and is currently serving her second term as a member of the TAM Program Committee. In addition to her art and museum background, Ms. Allen has 15 years combined experience in sales, marketing and special events.

“I can honestly say that TAM is one of the reasons I chose to move back to Texas. While I was looking for a job in the museum field from New York state, Jack Nokes made me feel welcome before I had even arrived. And once I had, TAM provided me with the ongoing, on-the-job training I needed, as well as connecting me with an outstanding and diverse museum community that I love being part of.

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Megan Bryant has been the Registrar at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza for ten years. She has been an active member of TAM since first arriving in Texas in 1996, serving on Program Committee and in various positions on the board of the Collection Managers Committee (Treasurer, Vice Chair, and Chair)—of which she is currently Past Chair. Megan is also an active member of the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums and is currently working with RC-AAM’s Rights and Reproductions Information Network to develop a rights & repros handbook for museum professionals. She previously served as project curator for the Hieronymus Mueller Museum in Decatur, Illinois, repatriation coordinator for the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, and held internships at the Molly Brown House Museum and Four Mile Historic Park in Denver and the Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Maine. Originally from Chicago, Megan holds a BA in Anthropology from Grinnell College in Grinnell and an MA in Anthropology and Museum Studies from the University of Denver. She has organized and presented at various CMC workshops and has recently spoken on issues regarding intellectual property in museum collections at both AAM and TAM.

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Lesa Bush is the Assistant Director of Education at Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum where she has been employed since 1999. A member of TAM since 2001, Lesa has served as the Children’s Museum Representative on the Texas Association of Museums Educator’s Committee. Lesa has also served as a presenter at TAM Annual Meetings and coordinated the 2005 TAMEC workshop. As an educator at the Mayborn, Lesa’s experiences include planning and implementing public and educational programming, working with Baylor interns, helping to oversee summer camps, and setting up a training program for docents.

Lesa received a BA in Education from Baylor University. She is married and has two beautiful daughters who are 8 and 5. In her spare time, she enjoys being with her family, reading, beading, and exercise.

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Georgia Kemp Caraway is the Executive Director of the Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum, the Bayless-Selby House Museum, and the Denton County African American Museum. She has held this position since 1998. She is a member of the TAM Collections Managers Committee, is Chairman of the Northeast Texas Museum Association and is actively involved in the Small Museum Affinity group. She served on the TAM Program Committee for the 2006 conference. She serves on the board of the Texas Lakes Trails.

She is also the director of the Texas Institute of Antiques & Collectibles, an adult education program, and teaches a course for the University of North Texas on antique collecting. She authored a book, Tips, Tools, & Techniques, about caring for antiques. She serves on the board of several arts and charitable organizations in Denton and has been an active volunteer for historical preservation projects sponsored by the Denton County Historical Commission. Ms. Caraway holds a PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of North Texas.

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Henry B. Crawford is the Curator of History at the Museum of Texas Tech University, where he was previously the Registrar. He has an M.A. in American History and Museum Studies, and holds additional museum training certificates from the Smithsonian Institution and the Winedale Seminar on Historical Administration and Interpretation.

Crawford has served on the councils of MPMA, TAM and ALHFAM. He has been a member of the American Association of Museums' National Program Committee, Museum Assessment Program Advisory Committee, and on the board of the AAM Registrars Committee. Henry has been a consultant to institutions in other states, among them the Historical Museum of Fort Missoula and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, as well as our own George Ranch Historical Park, the Farmer's Branch Museum, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, the National Ranching Heritage Center, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Many museum people will recognize Henry Crawford from his involvement with public education through living history during the past 25+ years, and he is widely known for his enthusiasm. He has lectured on living history philosophy and incorporates material culture awareness into all of his reenacting programs.

Henry has worked on, and appeared in, many documentaries including "Fort Davis: Frontier Outpost" and "Traders Tribes, and Travelers: The Story of Bent's Old Fort" for the National Park Service; "The Mountain Men" and "Modern Marvels" for the History Channel; the Emmy Award-winning "Bicycle Corps: America's Black Army on Wheels," produced by Montana Public Television; and most recently "Texas Ranch House" for the PBS "House" series.

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LeAnna Biles Schooley is Facilities Manager/Curator of the W. K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas at Thurber. As the museum’s first curator she has enjoyed the challenge of creating new policies and procedures for the museum, now entering its fourth year of operation. She received a B. A. in Museum Studies and History from Baylor University and a M. S. in Architectural Studies with a specialization in Historic Preservation from the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, LeAnna spent over five years in Fort Stockton as Executive Director of the Fort Stockton Historical Society operating both the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum and Historic Fort Stockton. She also held the position of Military Sites and Survey Coordinator at the Texas Historical Commission for a time. She is a 1997 Winedale Museum Seminar graduate.

Along the way, LeAnna has served on the Permian Basin Museum Association board of directors, Fort Stockton Main Street Advisory Board, and was a member of the 2004 TAM Program Committee. She has regularly attended TAM meetings since 1990. A strong advocate of regional tourism efforts, she is a past President of the board of the Big Bend Area Travel Association and is currently Secretary of the Texas Forts Trail Board of Directors.

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Whitney Presley is the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Responsible for marketing the Museum's exhibits, films, and programs, Whitney oversees the Membership, PR, and Special Events departments. She has over twelve years experience in non-profit arts marketing and public relations and was working for The University of Texas at Austin in development before coming to the Museum. She has been part of the team responsible for some of the Museum's most intriguing promotions including the Guinness Book of World Records World's Largest Cootie Game Tournament and the Museum's popular world music concert series, Music Under the Star. She holds a BA in journalism and theatre from Baylor University and her MA in advertising from UT Austin.



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Christine Jelson West recently joined the staff of Lawndale Art Center as Executive Director. Lawndale Art Center is a non-profit alternative space for the exhibition of contemporary works in all media, unique in its focus on Houston area artists. West previously served as Executive Director of the Galveston Arts Center. A native Houstonian, West has a long history in non-profit arts administration working with organizations such as the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, where she served as Marketing Coordinator and Development Coordinator for three years, Fresh Arts Coalition as a marketing, event planning and fundraising consultant and also with Glasstire, Texas Visual Art Online as an event editor and content manager since 2003. She is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio with a BA in English and holds a Texas Secondary School Teacher Certificate in English and Art. Her other activities include writing about art and making art. Her art reviews have been published in Arts Houston magazine and Artlies journal.

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