Susan Tucker Richmond, former Regional Director of the American Lung Association has joined Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens as Museum Director, effective January, 2008.

As Director of OMAM she and the Executive Board are responsible for the development and monitoring of the annual budget; overseeing all aspects of exhibitions (selections, scheduling, invitations, publicity, installation and related programs); networking with other museums to find artists, workshop opportunities and traveling exhibitions; overseeing publication of the newsletter; expanding use of The Museum by community organizations; maintaining a good relationship with the press; attending all Museum functions; overseeing and scheduling staff and speaking to civic organizations as a representative of The Museum.

Top of Page

Museum Administrative Coordinator, Vanessa Elliott, joined OMAM in 1997. Ms. Elliott holds a Bachelor's Degree from Radford University, Radford, Virginia. She handles Museum accounting functions and memberships, coordinates the volunteer staff, answers questions and works with City, County and State personnel to further the growth of the Museum. She aids in exhibition installation, works with the exhibiting artists to provide printed material for the visiting public, and assists in fund raising events such as Petals and Palettes and the Sweetheart Basket.

Top of Page

The Museum’s Curator of Education position encompasses a host of responsibilities ranging from developing curriculum for classes, instructing in both the adult and children’s ArtReach programs, working with outside schools and agencies in creating programs to promote the arts including the twice weekly OMAM sponsored Osceola Elementary art classes.

The role of the curator also includes coordination of new exhibitions and related activity around the publicity of events, contracts, transportation, and education programs offered in conjunction with artist shows. Beyond that, the position assists in the ongoing challenge of fundraising and grant writing.

We are so delighted to have embarked on a new solution to enhance the many varied talents required of this position. During the summer of 2005 we brought onto the OMAM staff Regina Stengel and Karlene McConnell. They are joining Barbara Saunders in bringing an array of ideas and resources to the Curator of Education Role. The job sharing trio has great plans for building the OMAM audience.

Barbara Saunders spent six years as an elementary school teacher at a private school for children with special needs, where she heavily incorporated fine and performing arts into the curriculum and soon took on the role of public relations director. This involved emphasis on community relations, press, fund raising and a capital campaign for a new facility.

While working towards her masters in media administration, she moved into a similar position for a historic preservation organization, Market Street Restoration Agency in Corning, New York. Known to be a model "Mainstreet" program nationwide, their charter was to assist merchants in visual, architectural and marketing plans. With this group she developed a curriculum and video which was implemented across the school district. Used on the middle school level, the emphasis was on exposure to the period architecture of the region. Her role also included grant writing and a seat on community boards, including the Corning-Elmira Philharmonic, Jr. League and a grant selection committee responsible for the distribution of New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) funding. Her association with NYSCA began on the receiving end, as she was a three time recipient of grants for the development of children's art projects in the upstate New York area.

These relationships led Barbara to a position with NYSCA as a visiting art educator in regional schools. She worked with curriculum staff, developing programs which augmented existing curriculum by adding a fine and/or performing arts layer. Her program was adopted district wide and was used as a model statewide by NYSCA. She also has been heavily involved in the fundraising and implementation of plans for sundry projects in upstate New York, including renovation and redesign of public spaces and the construction of a four million dollar Art Center expansion in Corning, NY.

Ms. Saunders has produced a live performing arts production "VROOM", which chronicled the history of Formula I motor sports in upstate New York.

Since her arrival in Florida Barbara has continued to teach the performing arts for the Flagler County Schools, and offered artistic direction and fundraising for a variety of organizations in Volusia and Flagler Counties.

Ms. Saunders received her BS in Elementary Education from St. Bonaventure University, in Olean, NY. She continued her education with graduate study in Media Administration at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York; Performing Arts/Dance study at Brockport University, Brockport, New York; and Performing Arts/Dance study at Elmira College, Elmira, New York.

Regina Stengel is no stranger to the Museum, having assisted in the development of a decade of summer ArtReach camps. Regina holds a BA in Studio Art and a minor in Art History from Stetson University.

Karlene McConnell is also a long time fixture in the regional art scene and a friend and participant in the OMAM family. She is a certified art teacher with a BA in Visual Arts Education from UCF.

Museum Weekend Liaison, Linda King joined OMAM in 1997. Ms. King holds a BFA (Graphic Design major) from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a certified local art teacher for kindergarten through twelfth grades. Ms. King teaches children, teen and adult Saturday Art classes at the Museum in addition to the ArtReach Summer Camp.

Top of Page

Board of Directors, 2007-2008

President Alexis Lenssen	Vice President Barbara Perkins
Recording Secretary Theresa Geyer	Treasurer Loucretia Campos
Nancy Anderson	Carrie Baird
Michaelle Berthoin	Mary Boggs
Paige Cohen	Nannine Dahlen
Rodger Dashow	Sharron Gornto
Laura Green	Mary Greenlees
Caryl Heebner	Anne Lichtigman
Stephanie Mason-Teague	Karlene McConnell
Phyllis Miller	Taylor Murois
Jini Quimby	Julie Rand
Teresa Rizzo	Dr. Philip Shapiro
Tammy Stamper	Dr. Paul Thompson
Julia Truilo	Susan Tucker Richmond Museum Director
Vanessa Elliott Museum Administrative Coordinator	Barbara Saunders Curator of Education
Regina Stengel Co-Curator of Education	Linda King Co-Curator of Education

Prior years' Boards of Directors are available in our Archives

Top of Page

This web page was updated on 31-Mar-2008 11:51 PM -0600