by Julie Hansen, Volunteer Coordinator
This article is part of a collection of updates in the Winter, 2014 edition of Muse News, the newsletter of the Las Cruces Museum System.
This quarter we welcomed twelve new volunteers to the museum system. At the Museum of Art, returning volunteer Dean Hammond will be at the reception desk. Junior docent Sam Martinez will be working at reception in addition to helping in studio programs. Juan Carillo and Luisa Castellanos will be helping with special events.
The Branigan Cultural Center has six new volunteers. Whitney Jacobs is working in the collections department. Ruth Jaure and Vicki Hibner are training as docents. Angela Muhanga is working with the education department, assisting with promotional materials. Jeanna Rodriguez-Lawson, a former intern, has returned as an education assistant. Finally, we are delighted to have writer and historian Linda Harris assisting with research and interpretation for our May Family exhibit, planned for 2015.
Special thanks to Jill Franzen who co-curated our Toys and Dolls exhibit, and Sareta Gregory who has been working on the doll inventory, conservation, and installation for two years.
At the Railroad Museum, Michelle Archuleta will be assisting with special events, and Victor Plumb will be our new exhibits assistant. Long-time volunteer Tom O’Brien (over 2000 hours of service at the Railroad Museum) stepped in at the last minute to cover a Brown Bag lecture in October when our scheduled speaker was unable to give his presentation on “Coal Fired Steam Driven Trains.” With his extensive knowledge of trains, Tom was able to deliver an excellent impromptu talk on the topic.
Our volunteers are an invaluable resource and we are so grateful for their assistance and expertise!
Jill Franzen,