BEHIND THE SCENES SPOTLIGHT CELEBRATING OUR HISTORY AND OUR AMAZING STAFF

MY FORMER ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: As Chair of Learning Initiatives and Director of Education, I was responsible for the development of programming and materials focused on enabling visitors to connect meaningfully with works of art and for increasing awareness of the DMA as a Dallas institution for diverse audiences.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: I am obsessed with connections both in my own artwork and in other aspects of my daily experience.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: I love recalling a time when Booker T. Washington high school dance students responded through their dance to works of art in a DMA gallery while visual art students drew their responses to both the dancers and the art. Visitors stopped and watched. The gallery was alive with interactions.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Since retiring from the DMA, I have been reading with grandsons via FaceTime, cooking, watching college basketball, drawing, and writing, and talking with family and friends, some of whom are former and present DMA employees. One of the best decisions I ever made was to apply for an internship at the DMA.

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I’m the Head Photographer and I shoot the collection and catalogues. My 23rd anniversary was on March 2.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: Snow skiing. I went for a week this month and I am going to go again next month. I enjoy the feeling of gravity giving you a motor. I like being on the top of a mountain and anywhere you want to look you can look that way and it's beautiful. Going speeds as fast as 40 mph, it’s a way to ride a motorcycle without a motor being involved. I like going to Sunlight Mountain in Colorado.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Getting to know the deceased artist through the vision of their collectors. When I shoot the catalogue and I go to the homes of the collectors that collect this art, their excitement gives it immortality. They don’t just have the greatest artist; they have the greatest of that artist.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Gardening. I grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, blueberries, and more. My garden is 25x20 feet and I harvest so many tomatoes.

38 YEARS

23 YEARS

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: As Payroll Manager, I make sure everyone here gets a paycheck every two weeks! Very important—I’m everyone’s best friend . . . on that day.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: My grandbaby! I have one and his name is Isaiah, and I’m Gigi to him. I’m obsessed with him. He’s young and he keeps me active!

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: It's making sure everyone gets paid. It's important to me to be available, be welcoming, and let anyone come in and ask any questions or concerns that they have.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: I do a lot of volunteering and feeding the homeless through my church. It’s humbling. I love helping my community. And then back again to spending time with my grandbaby!

43 YEARS

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: Being disruptive. No, my official title is Chief Mount Maker and Senior Preparator. A mount maker is someone who makes 3D metal armatures to support artwork that can’t support itself.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: New Mexico. I find it a healing place. I’ve been there more times than I can count, and I have family in New Mexico. Despite that, I still go, haha! When we take friends, they’re always stunned by how beautiful it is. It’s a wonderful place. I’d love to retire there.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Being a problem solver, and doing that within the confines of an object. We have an old saying in mount making, “We help objects sing at full voice.”

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: I’m working on some art right now, drawings and collage. I work from magazines and other materials. I didn't always do collage; it terrified me until the late 80s. I thought I could never do this and then it called out to me, so I finally decided to try it, and I did it. Lastly, you would find me being a caregiver to Ivy, my beautiful wife. I do my best to care for her and help her flourish.

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I'm the Senior Editor. I edit and proofread any written material the public will see, including special exhibition labels, collection gallery labels, brochures, program schedules, ads, invitations, emails, press releases, the website, Artifacts (yes, I had to edit my own interview for this issue of the magazine!), the annual report, and more.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: Reading poetry and making soup. (Not necessarily at the same time.)

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: I get to read all day about interesting subjects, and because the DMA is an encyclopedic museum, the subject matter is always changing: one day it's Picasso's works on paper, the next day it's African mudcloths. I never get bored—unlike at my first job out of college, editing Lasers & Optronics magazine.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Reading a book with a cat in my lap. Or going to the library or bookstore. But, honestly, mostly grocery shopping—it seems like I'm always at the grocery store.

32 YEARS

MY FORMER ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: Head of Marketing and Public Relations

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: A rt, investing in Broadway shows, and the work of the Trinity Park Conservancy and building an incredible urban park.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: The thank you party at the Rose "Pump House" during the Centennial Campaign. Robert and I were so very excited about the community support and so happy to have been a part of making the campaign a success.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Working away at my desk trying to make money to buy art!