School of Art + Art History

Museum Studies

Meet Our Leadership / Trailblazing Alumni

Class of 2023
Korinne Casarella

Korinne is excited to be a double gator. She attended the University of Florida where she majored in Anthropology and minored in Zoology, Medical Anthropology, and Leadership. In undergrad, she focused mainly on human osteology and biological anthropology. She had not considered a career in the museum world until her last semester at UF where she happened upon a new course that introduced museum studies and the endless career opportunities within a museum. Korinne felt like she finally found the missing link between wanting to be both a scientist and a public servant. Inspired, she applied to an internship at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as the Special Events Coordinator for the intern cohort that summer. Feeling like she could never be a scientist for not being “good” at the hard sciences like chemistry or physics, this experience completely changed her mind and left her feeling like she could really make a difference as a woman in the field of natural history. Korinne feels like this program has the potential to provide her with the experience needed to not only be a good scientist, but an activist in the community as well.

Class of 2023
Martha Grace Whiteman

Martha Grace earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History (with a concentration in Modern and Contemporary art) from Winthrop University in Spring 2020. Although an avid museum-goer, Martha Grace did not discover her interest in museum work until she began working as a Gallery Assistant with the Winthrop University Galleries. While in this position, she explored many career avenues—ultimately finding a home in public programming and museum education. This interest was further informed by a number of experiences: two education internships with the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC and a non-profit partnership with the Smithsonian Museum to provide art education to neurodiverse children and teens. These experiences informed her research interest in accessibility and inclusion for disabled individuals. Martha looks forward to the interdisciplinary nature of this program, allowing her to take several courses across UF’s different colleges.

Class of 2023
Ivy Johnson

Ivy earned her BA in Anthropology with a minor in International Studies. Her interests have always centered around investigating the status quo, activism, and understanding people. Growing up, Ivy had the opportunity to travel around the world, meet different people, and visit many MANY museums. Ivy chose to pursue a Museum Studies degree after taking an introductory museum course taught by a program alumnus, in undergrad. For the last five years, she has done a little bit of everything. Most recently she interned at the A Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center, created the COTA Proposal Studio's Research Funding Opportunity Database, and worked with Alachua County community members and UF Museum Studies classmates to create the Alachua County Digital Black Heritage Trail. Ivy's career goal is to be of service to the needs and wants of her community wherever she is, to the best of her ability. 

Class of 2023
Minji Ku

Minji has a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Florida. She has minors in mass communications and anthropology. During her time as an undergraduate, Minji started working as a research assistant at the Florida Museum of Natural History and decided to pursue her interest in the Museum field further by obtaining a master's degree in Museum Studies. Her primary interests are curation and archival and she hopes the Museum Studies program will expand her knowledge of natural history as well as the arts.

Class of 2023
Mackenzie Pizzio

Mackenzie graduated from the University of Florida in May 2021 with degrees in History and Women’s Studies. Her research focuses on gender and feminism in American films, particularly popular films from the 1990s, to understand how third-wave feminism is communicated to the public. She first became interested in working in museums after completing an internship at the Matheson History Museum, where she was tasked with the creation of a brand new exhibition for the museum, Trailblazers: 150 Years of Alachua County Women. It was here that she discovered a passion for exhibition research and creation, particularly the creation of exhibits that highlight people and histories that are often ignored. She is also planning on completing a certificate in Historic Preservation during her graduate studies. Her overall goal in completing this program is to learn about how museums have worked in the past and how they can improve in the future, especially as it pertains to how narratives surrounding gender, race, and sexuality have historically been taught in museums.

Class of 2022
David Campo III

David earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology (concentration in archaeology) with a minor in classical studies from the University of Florida in Spring 2017 and a master’s degree in art history from the University of Georgia in Spring 2020. At UF, he picked up an interest in collections management while working for various professors in the anthropology department. He also took internships in the Registration department at the Harn Museum of Art, here in Gainesville, the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, FL, and the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in Athens. Both of those experiences encouraged him to pursue a graduate degree in museum studies at UF. During his second year, he has completed a summer internship in the Amazonian collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History and he recently returned from a research trip conducted at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His research examines indigenous Amazonian art, aesthetics, and material culture and how they may serve to disrupt traditional binaries of museum classification systems.

Class of 2022
Ivy Chen

Ivy received her undergraduate degree in Asian Studies, but initially started out in Chemistry. She then earned an Artist Diploma in cello performance and started working in the non-profit arts sector. In Gainesville, she worked at the Harn Museum of Art for eight years in various departments, starting in Education as the Bishop Study Center Manager, Adult Programs & Volunteer Coordinator. Ivy then worked as Curatorial Program Manager and most recently created and implemented the Composers-in-Residence program, working with UF Music Composition PhD students who created new music works performed in the galleries inspired by objects in the museum collection. She chose the UF Museum Studies Program because she is inspired by Dr. Porchia Moore and her work in inclusion and engagement.

Class of 2022
Evangeline Giaconia

Evangeline received a BS in multidisciplinary anthropology from Appalachian State University, with minors in biology and religious studies. Her interest in museums is informed by a number of experiences: three summers of ethnographic research on tourism in Ecuador, an internship at the Parthenon Museum in Nashville, TN, and a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA working with a racial equity initiative in Asheville, NC. Her research interests in museum studies focus on decolonization and racial equity work in museums, and the relationship of museums to local communities.

Class of 2022
Laura Rincón Rodriguez

Laura graduated from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, with a degree in Information Science- Librarianship.​ While in her last undergraduate semester, she was looking for an internship that could professionally challenge her differently than libraries and archives and chose the Museum of Arquitecture Leopoldo Rother at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. While in Colombia, Laura worked at a Museum of Architecture and a Museum of Geology. In the Museum of Architecture, she helped produce a catalog and received compliments from visitors on how. Through the years, visitors complimented their work as the only well-organized and stored architectural drawings. During this experience, she fell in love with collections. Laura chose the UF program because of the curriculum focus on collections management and the Gainesville weather and surrounding nature. She would like to advocate for accessible and active collections to researchers, museum professionals, and people in general. Also, she would like to see greater community engagement, inclusion, and diversity within the collections field. Laura wants to bring a breath of fresh air to collections, and be a game-changer in her field.

Class of 2022
Brittany Thomas

Brittany received her BA in Anthropology here at UF and became interested in working in the museum field when she visited Europe for the first time and was blown away by the sheer size and diversity of their museums and their museum collections. When Brittany returned from this trip, she realized American museum institutions have a similar rich culture and history, but she had taken them for granted while growing up. Brittany has always had a passion for history but never realized she could apply this passion to a meaningful and fulfilling career until she began thinking about those responsible for presenting and maintaining the world’s history in museums. 

Brittany began volunteering at the Matheson History Museum here in Gainesville in 2018 once she discovered the program and wanted to acquire some experience. For 2 years, she volunteered at the Matheson mostly conducting condition reports on objects and going through the museum’s inventory to take note of any issues. In the summer of 2019, she interned at the Amelia Island Museum of History in their research library, where her main focus was digitizing their physical records, and it was there that she discovered an interest for the growing practice of object digitization in order to increase public accessibility to museum collections. Finally, during the spring of 2020 she volunteered in the FLMNH’s ichthyology lab photographing and digitizing specimens from their ichthyology lab. 

Brittany absolutely fell in love with UF and the town of Gainesville during her time in undergrad, so when she discovered that UF had a MS program she knew that it would be a good fit. She also loved that it was a well-established, small program where she felt that the learning environment would take the shape of an intimate group discussion rather than a crowded lecture. Brittany also really resonated with the statement that “museums can change the world” because it’s something she doesn’t believe most people think about when the average person thinks of museums, but loves that this program is actively trying to shift that narrative in people’s minds and express the power that museums have.

Class of 2021
Megan Ayotte

Megan attended the University of North Florida and double-majored in History and Anthropology. She has always been fascinated by and a frequent visitor of museums, heritage sites, and parks. While at UNF, she explored her interests further by interning and afterward volunteering at the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville, Florida, as both a collections management and curatorial assistant. She is currently interning with the City of Gainesville's Park, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department to enter their art collection into PastPerfect and create a collections management policy. Megan chose UF's Museum Studies program because it offers a holistic approach to the field, which is needed to be successful in today's museum world. This program also allows her to pursue related interests in digital media and historic preservation, giving Megan the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills of her choosing.

Class of 2021
Katharine Lemessy

Katharine is a Double Gator. She went to UF for her undergrad degree and majored in history and public relations. She loves history and is interested in the ways we remember it. Often, we see documents as neutral, factual sources. However, these sources can easily be manipulated by the context they are viewed in, and Katharine wants to ensure that these objects are displayed in the most ethical way! Even though she doesn’t have any museum experience, she loves libraries and spent most of her childhood in them. She volunteered at a library in 2016 for a summer reading program for children. Katharine chose the Museum Studies program because she wanted to work with a small cohort and professors who care and nurture her interests.

Class of 2021
Brie Rosenbloom

Brie holds an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Florida. She is fascinated with the emotions that collections objects on display elicit. Brie’s first collections internship at the South Florida Museum allowed her to identify that her career goals lie in collections management. She is interested in learning how museums can best manage sudden and large collections of objects in a field that is usually better equipped to process slowly growing collections. She most recently interned at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in her hometown of Boca Raton, Florida, developing accession procedures for the center’s natural history collection. Brie looks forward to the curriculum offered by this program providing an academic foundation to her work in collections management.

Class of 2020
Chandler Sandy

Chandler graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a degree in history and minor in business administration. She has always had an interest in history and the arts, but it wasn’t until college that she became active in museums through internships. Her experience with the Norton Museum of Art inspired her passion of making museums a place where people feel welcomed. She became a communications intern at the Norton Museum of Art which sparked her interest in the business side of arts organizations. Chandler later volunteered at a gallery that served underprivileged children through the arts and served twice as a development intern at the Harn Museum of Art. Interning at the Harn showed her the positive impact a career in fundraising can have on the community and helped her declare a concentration to focus on for graduate school.

Class of 2020
Georgia Fasano

Georgia received her BA in Anthropology at the University of Florida, minoring in Art History and Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She is interested in collections management and exhibit design. She has experience interning at the Harn Museum of Art in the African curatorial department. For the last year she has been volunteering at the Florida Museum of Natural History in the Vertebrate Paleontology Prep Lab. She has a background in archaeology and has been working with UF's Historical Archaeology department both in the lab and the field since high school. She believes that museums should constantly try to adapt and reinvent ways of presenting information through their collections and exhibits. Relating to and reaching a wide audience on both a personal and academic level keeps museums relevant and influential. She is interested in exploring how science and art can be utilized to apply more immersive approaches to exhibits and collections that will positively impact audience engagement. 

Class of 2020
Marygrace Kennedy

Marygrace is a graduate of Boston University, earning degrees in History and International Relations. She has always been interested in how the events of history are perceived and portrayed by different communities. Marygrace has always been drawn to museums. She is continually inspired by the stories, artifacts, and personal narratives not often discussed in classrooms. She believes that museums humanize history, and by doing so they are able to engage the community and inspire people to reach across social, ethnic, and economic boundaries. This is what drove her to pursue a degree in Museum Studies. She most recently interned at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin working in the Archives department. As a native North Easterner, she is excited to live and learn in a part of the country that is so different from what she is familiar with.   

Class of 2017
Elizabeth Bouton

After graduating from the Museum Studies program in 2017, Elizabeth worked as an Exhibits Associate at George A. Smathers Libraries for 3.5 years. Last year, she accepted an opportunity to work remotely in the tech field for a cloud service consulting company. Since the Museum Studies program is interdisciplinary, Elizabeth focused on 3D printing for her research which opened some doors into other technologies. Though she is not currently working in the museum field, she is consulting on more "behind the scenes" aspects of what museums use, such as digital database storage, website and app hosting, etc. Elizabeth is currently a board member for a local 501(c)(3) organization, and hopes to sit on boards of museums in the future, using her ethical and best practice knowledge she gained through the Museum Studies program at UF.

Class of 2017
Katie Nickel

My current position: Katie Nickel is the Head of Educational Programs at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. In her role leading the education department and developing programming for adult audiences, Katie infuses values of creativity, inspiration, and play into all aspects of museum education. Katie believes in the transformative power of the arts, and strives to make The Ringling's collections of art, circus history, historic architecture, performance, and gardens accessible to all. As co-chair of the museum's IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Team, Katie works collaboratively with local communities to remove barriers and build trusting partnerships, and to instill equitable practice at all levels of museum operations. In 2017, Katie graduated from the UF Museum Studies program enthusiastically prepared for museum education work with a deep understanding of both theory and pedagogy. The Museum Studies program challenged Katie to consider the role of the practitioner as change agent, and constantly revisits the role of the museum as part of community. Katie credits the academic rigor and practical experiences gained through the UF Museum Studies program with kick-starting her career in museum education and leadership, and often reflects on the pivotal lessons learned through coursework, internships, and most importantly, peer communities gained through the program

How the Museum Studies Program helped my career: The Museum Studies Program at The University of Florida is the perfect blend of relevant theory and hands-on practice. Both the museum studies and area-focused courses and professors have prepared me to be an expert in my field. Gainesville is rich in museum, arts and cultural heritage resources which provided me the opportunity to apply what I learned in class to practical and valuable museum experience. The Museum Studies Program is a truly dynamic community of professors, colleagues, museum professionals and alumni who are supportive and encouraging of student work and career advancement. This program has fully prepared me for my current role in museum education and has laid a strong foundation and network that will support me through all stages of my career.

What I love about my career: Museums are places where curiosity comes to life. Working in museum education allows me to share my passion for learning and community engagement with thousands of visitors from around the world. I love invigorating new life into works of art and working to make museums an inclusive and supportive place for all visitors. My favorite thing about a career in museum is that there is always something new to learn, new program initiatives to try, and room to be creative.

Class of 2017
Halee Sommer

My current position: I’ve been working at the Jewish Museum in New York City since January 2018. I started as Assistant to the Deputy Director of Development and have since transitioned into the position of Editorial Associate. In this role, I walk between the realms of Marketing and Digital, working with both teams to draft, edit, and implement all audience-facing content for the Museum’s print and digital platforms. I also work to develop digital strategy for the Museum, constantly brainstorming the best ways to engage our audiences. 

How the Museum Studies Program helped my career: Being a part of the Museum Studies Program is an experience I will forever be grateful for. I always felt I came into the program during an interesting time in its history. I benefited from having not one, but two directors to turn to for guidance. Learning under the leadership of Glenn Willumson and Briley Rasmussen opened my perspective about the field to view museums from a more holistic point of view. 

I also chose a difficult route for the time by pursuing a traditional research-based thesis, which was not the norm for the program. On top the already demanding reality of writing a thesis, I focused on a topic that had very little in the way of scholarly research within the museum field: audience development for the millennial generation. I felt like I had a rocky foundation to stand on but I stayed focused, spoke with every museum professional across the country who would answer my calls, and ended up with a document I am really proud of. I use my graduate research constantly. It acts as a springboard to new findings and is a big reason why I’m in the position I am today.  

What I love about my career:  My career is very much still in the making. Graduate studies were just one stop on (what I hope will be) a very long road full of learning and growth. With my current position, I build upon my research interests, fostering connections between visitors and the Museum. For me, there is no message as simple, effective, and honest as letting your audiences know “you belong here.” This is my main point of focus as I grow within my career.

Class of 2016
Kathryn Rohlwing

Kat received a degree from Wake Forest University in Anthropology. While there, she fell in love with museums like the Reynolda House Museum of American Art. After graduating, she went on to work for a variety of museums—from paleontology to archaeology to local history. She graduated with her Master’s in Museum Studies in 2016 and transitioned to a position as Special Events and Marketing Coordinator for Manatee Village Historical Park. Two years later, she was promoted to Site Director, which gave her an opportunity to work in all aspects of the museum from grants management to education, exhibits and collections. Kathryn then moved back to Gainesville and worked for two years at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, before making a major career change. She now works as a Research Coordinator in Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida. Kat’s degree in Museum Studies gave her the opportunity her to pursue a career that was not only fun and rewarding, but also allowed her to gain skills in project and team management, budgets, grants, and a variety of other areas that can be transferred to almost any field.

Class of 2015
Jessie Ward

My current position: I'm the Collections Manager for the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, GA and SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta, GA. Both of these museums are under the umbrella of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and we maintain one collection for two museums. SCAD MoA is a contemporary art museum while SCAD FASH is for fashion and film.

I (and the museum's permanent collection) are based in Savannah, but I travel back and forth between here at Atlanta three to four months out of the year, as well as facilitate the travel of collection objects between the two museums. I'm also the primary liaison to SCAD FASH for all of their exhibition installations/deinstallations. 

How the Museum Studies Program helped my career: I came into the Museum Studies program from working as the director of a small natural history museum in Central Florida, and I was looking to leave the administrative side of the field and focus on collections care. I have a B.S. in Photography from the University of Central Florida and wanted to get back into the arts after years of working in natural history. The UF Museum Studies program was a perfect fit for me in that respect, and in a lot of other ways. The ability to take art history classes as well as the core museum classes were extremely beneficial. Plus, the mentorship I received from Dr. Glenn Willumson and Dixie Neilson was invaluable. 

One thing I would stress to current and future students is the professional value of this program. Having worked in the field for a few years before entering the program, I observed just how much of the core class content covered real, true-to-life challenges and rewards any professional will come across while on the job. I learned so much, especially in the Museum Ethics and Collections Management classes, that I have carried over into my position at SCAD and working with other museums in the U.S. and abroad. 

Surprisingly, the field is still full of "non-museum" people and having a basic understanding of museum ethics is crucial. I would recommend all students absorb as much you can: read and debate case studies and articles, stay current on what's happening in the field, attend conferences, join organizations and listservs, and visit other museums as much as possible. There are a lot of challenges and frustrations that can come out of this line of work, but there is also a lot of fun and reward with it, too. I think anyone already in or considering the program is most likely going to be a fellow "museum nerd" like myself and is in it for the love of it, so the good often outweighs the bad! My favorite little benefit is the travel. I love taking courier trips to other museums. My first courier trip in this position took me to Paris. Not too shabby! 

What I love about my career:  I am very passionate about the care of museum objects. When people ask me what I do (after telling them that I'm not a debt collector), I tell them I care for our collective cultural heritage. I also love that I get to work a lot with students. So many of them have very little understanding of what museums actually DO, so I love it when I have a chance to tell them about the value of collections and their care! I constantly hear, "That is SO COOL!" and "You really love what you do!" and it's true for both!

Class of 2015
Casey Wooster

My current position: Casey is currently the Collections Assistant at Governor’s House Library, an affiliate library of UF George A. Smathers Libraries, in St. Augustine, Florida. She assists in managing archives and collections created by a defunct state agency, the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board (1959-19997). This role also involves connecting St. Augustine's built heritage with researchers and community members through exhibits, public programming, and collaborations. Casey’s most recent projects include facilitating the professional organization St. Augustine Archival Society and leading the community collaboration "Resilience: Black Heritage in St. Augustine."

How the Museum Studies Program helped my career: The Museum Studies Program at The University of Florida is the perfect blend of relevant theory, hands-on practice, and community. The professors and courses provide practical skills as well as an examination of the challenges and rewards of the museum field. Casey gained a foundation not only in one specialization, but also in other areas under this program’s curriculum. This well-rounded education has allowed her to adapt to various roles over my career and to act as a better, informed colleague. Outside of the classroom, Gainesville offers a rich scene of museums and cultural heritage resources, where students can gain further insight and apply their knowledge. Lastly, the strongest asset of the Museum Studies Program is its dynamic network of professors, students, alumni, local museum professionals, and additional allies. The support of this community is what drew Casey to the program, allowed her to grow as a professional, and helped her begin my career. 

I also chose a difficult route for the time by pursuing a traditional research-based thesis, which was not the norm for the program. On top the already demanding reality of writing a thesis, I focused on a topic that had very little in the way of scholarly research within the museum field: audience development for the millennial generation. I felt like I had a rocky foundation to stand on but I stayed focused, spoke with every museum professional across the country who would answer my calls, and ended up with a document I am really proud of. I use my graduate research constantly. It acts as a springboard to new findings and is a big reason why I’m in the position I am today.

Class of 2014
Shelly Threadgill

My current position: Assistant Registrar at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX

How the Museum Studies program helped me: One of the main ways that the Museum Studies Program helped was through the hands-on experience I gained during internships and practicums. During my practicum at the Harn Museum of Art, I was trained in how to use TMS (The Museum System). During my first internship at the Kimbell Art Museum, I was able to use my knowledge of TMS to assist the registrars’ office as they transitioned to TMS, which lead to my securing a second internship. When I returned to the Kimbell the following summer, I created a user manual specific to the Kimbell’s use of TMS, which turned into my Thesis Project at UF. That time at the Kimbell and my experience in TMS, lead directly to the position that I now hold at the museum, and it all started with a practicum that I took at UF. In addition, the classes that I took in the Museum Studies program, and the training that they gave me, prepared me in so many ways for the challenges that I now encounter as a registrar. 

What I love about my career: I love the time that I spend traveling the world as a courier for the museum and all the wonderful people from other museums and institutions that I meet during my travels, or during their own travels as a courier to my museum. Being surrounded by art and people who are as passionate about art as I am on a daily basis, and being given the responsibility to care for and preserve these incredible pieces of history is such an amazing gift! 

Class of 2007
Leslie Ladendorf

My current position: Assistant Cultural Affairs Manager for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, City of Gainesville

How the Museum Studies Program helped my career: When I started the program I was already working in the museum field. However, the program gave me a foundation of knowledge and practical experience to use in advancing my career. It has also provided me with a suite of resources of which I can call upon when needed, including (but not limited to): other museum professionals, intern pool, collaborations, other museum organizations, and resource materials (like books, articles, websites etc). 

What I love about my career: My career has been an awesome adventure. I started out in HR/payroll for a museum to get my foot in the door, then I started my professional development with the Museum Studies Program, And I was able to transition into higher roles in museums over the years. Currently, I am the Assistant Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Gainesville, and I help oversee not only a Museum, but also other historical buildings, public art, and galleries. I love that I get to bring culture and arts to everyday citizens in our community, that I hope makes their lives a little more colorful and enjoyable. Sometimes we bring hard thinking topics like climate change, truth and reconciliation, and equity inequalities, but by educating the public on these topics, we can further our dialog and understanding of where others come from and who we all are as a community. 

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