Under the Wings is written by the staff of the Milwaukee Art Museum. You can learn more about each of us below.
Beret Balestrieri Kohn
Audio Visual Librarian
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Beret is responsible for the care, organization and management of the Museum’s vast collection of audio visual material. This includes images of the Collection, audio tapes of lectures, videos of artist lectures and much more, making Beret the Museum’s in-house A/V guru.
Hannah Pivo
Curatorial Assistant for 20th- and 21st-Century Design
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As Curatorial Assistant for Design, Hannah works on acquisitions, gallery rotations, and exhibitions of 20th- and 21st-century ceramics, glass, textile, graphics, industrial design, and more. She is particularly passionate about all things information design— from highway signs to how-to manuals.
Catherine Sawinski
Assistant Curator of European Art
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Catherine handles the day-to-day running of the European art department and researches the Museum’s collection of Ancient and European artwork before 1900. Although she enjoys being able to do a little bit of everything, portraiture and ancient art are her primary interests. Catherine’s love of all things old inspires her to design and stitch designs based on antique samplers, but with a twist: they are all in miniature!
Heather Winter
Librarian/archivist
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Heather manages and oversees the Museum’s George Peckham Miller Art Research Library, the institutional archives and the rare books collection. She works closely with staff and patrons to solve their research needs–move over Indiana Jones.
Former Contributors
Mel Buchanan
Demmer Assistant Curator of 20th-Century Design
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As Assistant Curator of 20th-Century Design, Mel’s curatorial responsibilities include interpreting, displaying, and building the Museum’s collection of craft, design, and decorative objects. A sentimentalist, Mel has a fondness for misfit chairs, which one day will overtake her apartment.
Janet Gourley
Education and Programs Department Administrator
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Janet spends her workday facilitating programs, maintaining education department attendance statistics, and knowing how to answer any and all questions about the Museum’s educational programs.
Chelsea Emelie Kelly
Manager of Digital Learning
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Chelsea is the Museum’s Manager of Digital Learning. In addition to working on educational technology initiatives like the Kohl’s Art Generation Lab or this very blog, she oversees and teaches teen programs and creates Collection resources for educators. Say hello on Twitter @MAM_Chelsea.
Claudia Mooney
Assistant Curator and New Media Manager, Chipstone Foundation
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Claudia works for Chipstone, the Milwaukee-based foundation dedicated to promoting American decorative arts scholarship. She researches objects and creates programming for Chipstone’s exhibitions. This gives her the opportunity to do what she loves most—spend time with amazing art and talking to Milwaukee Art Museum’s visitors about it.
Donele Pettit-Mieding
Store Marketing Manager
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Donele organizes events, promotions and communications specific to the Milwaukee Art Museum Store and loves to introduce art and design objects for visitors to take home and enjoy in their daily lives. She lands firmly on the side of jewelry as “wearable art” and would be happy to open every jewelry case in the store so that you can try it all on with her.
William Keyse Rudolph
The Dudley J. Godfrey, Jr. Curator of American Arts and Decorative Arts
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As curator of American art and Decorative arts, William focuses on the Museum’s collections of American painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, furniture, silver, and textiles from the 17th to the 20th centuries. A self-admitted portraiture geek, he also not-so-secretly likes European porcelain, all portrait miniatures, over-the-top 19th century historical revival objects, coffee, state fairs, cheeseburgers, and all dogs.
Kristin Settle
Public Relations Manager
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Public Relations: Communication by a person within an organization with the purpose of creating a favorable public image; otherwise referred to as PR. Kristin Settle: PR Manager for the Milwaukee Art Museum, otherwise referred to as Museum cheerleader.
Katrina Porod
Visitor Services Representative
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Katrina works at the Museum’s ticketing desk to assist and guide Museum visitors. To enrich the visitor experience, she draws upon her art history education and past experience as a Museum curatorial intern. She is currently learning to crochet and contemplating moonlighting as a yarn bomber.