Careers in Museums: Finding Your Path

Interested in a career that combines history, education, art, culture, or public engagement? Museums may be for you! Join us for an engaging panel discussion featuring alumni & museum professionals from a variety of museum pathways who will share their career journeys and insights into working in the museum field.

This event is designed for college students who want to learn more about the diverse roles that make museums thrive, from curatorial and collections management to education, marketing, research, leadership, and more. Panelists will discuss the skills and experiences that helped them succeed, offer advice for breaking into the field, and answer your questions.

Format: Panel discussion followed by a Q&A session and networking opportunity. Lunch will be provided!

Panelists include: Moderator: David Brashear, Director, Muscarelle Museum of Art

James Herrera-Brookes PhD ’24, Melanie Trent De Schutter Sr. Director of Research & Publications, Virginia Museum of History and Culture

Sara Woodbury PhD ’24, Curator of Art, Barry Art Museum, Old Dominion University Dr. Sara Woodbury is Curator of Art at the Barry Art Museum at Old Dominion University. She has previously held curatorial positions at the Roswell Museum in New Mexico, Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and the Dallas Museum of Art. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William & Mary, and completed her B.A. and M.A. in art history at Lake Forest College and Williams College, respectively. To date she has curated or co-curated more than fifty exhibitions on topics ranging from historical maritime painting to Barbie dolls. Her scholarly research on collections-based outreach and art access has appeared in edited collections, peer-reviewed journals, and digital humanities projects.

Olivia Lacher, Education Volunteer Manager, Virginia Living Museum Olivia Lacher is the Education Volunteer Manager at the Virginia Living Museum. Olivia earned her BA in Art and Archaeology at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. During her field school experience at James Madison’s Montepellier, she enjoyed giving lab and site tours to the public more than actually digging. She then focused on museum education, working at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Historic Jamestowne, and the VLM as an educator. Now, Olivia manages around 200 volunteers and interns who engage with the public, participate in conservation projects, and support museum events.

Keaton Hillman ’16, Social Media Specialist, Marketing & Communications, Virginia Fine Arts Museum Keaton Hillman graduated with a BA in Theatre and a minor in Marketing from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. By day, he works as the Social Media Specialist in the Marketing and Communications Division at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. In four and a half years at VMFA, he has helped to shape creative and impactful social media marketing campaigns for traveling exhibitions and evergreen museum programs. Recent highlights include managing social media content promoting “India’s Great Mughals: Art, Power, and Opulence” and “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.” By night, he is heavily involved in the Richmond, Virginia regional theatre scene having served as an actor and director in dozens of professional theatre productions.

Clare Yee ’27, MUSE Intern, Muscarelle Museum of Art Clare Yee (‘27) is a senior double majoring in Art History and Hispanic Studies, in addition to completing the NIAHD certificate in Public History and Material Culture. She has been a MUSE intern at the Muscarelle for two years, creating student events to connect the museum with the campus community. During the summer of 2025, she interned in the curatorial department at the Chrysler Museum of Art through the Woody Internship in Museum Studies. This past summer, she interned at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the American Art and Portrait Gallery Library. Clare is currently the editor-in-chief of Acropolis Magazine, choreographer for Sinfonicron Light Opera Company, works as the Social Media Manager for the Art & Art History Department, and is writing an honors thesis on modern and contemporary Chinese-Caribbean artists. RSVP by Nov. 7

Sponsored by: Career Development & Professional Engagement & Muscarelle Museum of Art

Sponsored by: Career Development & Professional Engagement & Muscarelle Museum of Art