Core Faculty
K.F. Latham
Director, Associate Professor, Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies Program
Kiersten F. Latham is the Director of Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies at Michigan State University. Prior to this, Dr. Latham developed and taught the museum studies specialization and ran the experimental MuseLab at Kent State University. She has worked in, on, and about museums in various capacities for over 30 years and has taught all aspects of museum studies, from administration to collections management to user experience. Her research interests convene around the meaning of museum objects and conceptual foundations of museums as document systems—publishing on numinous experiences in museums, user perceptions of ‘the real thing,’ and positive museology. She teaches the Foundations/Fundamentals of Museum Studies course and Leadership & Innovation in Arts & Cultural Management.
517-884-9446
kflatham@msu.edu
Susan J Bandes
Professor, Department of Art, Art History, and Design
Susan J. Bandes is Professor of Art History and Director of Museum Studies. She received her MA and PhD degrees from Bryn Mawr College, specializing in Roman Baroque painting. She served as Director of MSU’s Kresge Art Museum (now the Broad Art Museum) from 1986 until 2010 where she curated numerous exhibitions and wrote many catalogues. Among these are: Affordable Dreams: The Goetsch-Winkler House and Frank Lloyd Wright, an exhibition and subsequent edited book on the local Usonian house’s 50th anniversary in 1990; WPA in Michigan, and American Modernism. She teaches Renaissance and Baroque Art, Modern Architecture and Curatorial Practices. She is a member of the Print Council of America and is a frequent assessor and accreditor for the American Alliance of Museums.
517-884-2901
bandes@msu.edu
Max Evjen
Academic Specialist, Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies Program
Max Evjen is Faculty in the Department of Theatre, where he teaches Site-Specific Performance and is core faculty in Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies, where he teaches Introduction to Arts & Cultural Management and Learning in Museums. He is also Digital Humanities Coordinator in the Digital Humanities program at MSU. He has more than 15 years of experience in arts & cultural management and informal science learning.
517-432-1561
evjendav@msu.edu
Tina Newhauser
Academic Specialist, Department of Theatre
517-884-7793
newhause@msu.edu
Dionne O'Dell
Interim Program Director, Academic Specialist, Department of Theatre
Dionne O’Dell teaches in the ACM&MS program and is also faculty in the Department of Theatre, where she specializes in Children’s Theatre and is the Artistic Director of the Sense-Ability Ensemble, a group that creates theatrical performance for audiences that are neurodiverse. For ACMMS Dionne teaches the undergraduate and graduate Introduction to Arts & Cultural Management Museum Studies courses, Development and Fundraising for Arts and Cultural Management and Education and Outreach courses. Dionne has previously worked in both Development and Education for Lincoln Center Theater, one of the largest nonprofit theatres in the US. For more info: Senseabilityensemble.com/about
517-884-7794
odelldio@msu.edu
Abigail Tykocki
Academic Specialist, Department of Theatre
Abigail Tykocki (she/her/hers) is an academic specialist, leading communications for the MSU Department of Theatre and teaching for the MSU Arts , Cultural Management, and Museum Studies program. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from Michigan State and a Masters in Arts Management from Columbia College with an emphasis on performing arts. She has worked in marketing, fundraising and audience development for Vermont Stage Company, Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. She also worked as Marketing and Public Relations director for a municipally operated fiber-internet company. Abigail serves on the Arts Commission for the City of East Lansing and as President of the East Lansing Pinecrest Neighborhood Association.
Other MSU Faculty
Kelly Hansen
Graphic Designer & Museum Exhibit Designer for Michigan State University Outreach and Engagement
Kelly Hansen is an award-winning graphic designer and museum exhibit designer for Michigan State University Outreach and Engagement. Prior to this she honed her design and marketing skills for over a decade working as the creative director at a local advertising agency. She has an M.A. in Arts and Cultural Management, and a B.A. in Advertising from Michigan State University. Kelly is also an artist whose paintings have been featured in shows at the Scarab Club in Detroit, the Ann Arbor Art Center, and the South Haven Center for the Arts, among others. She teaches Introduction to Arts and Cultural Management.
Laura Scales
Academic Specialist, Department of Theatre
Laura Scales has been Stage and Production Managing professionally for over 15 years. She comes to Michigan State University from Chicago where she production managed at The University of Chicago, Emerald City Theatre Company in addition to consulting for various companies across the city. She studied stage and production management at The Theatre School at DePaul University, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Laura is thrilled to be a part of the Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies Faculty at MSU. GO Green!
William Matt
Deputy Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
William Matt is the Deputy Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. His career at MSU began at the MSU Museum assisting with projects involving environmental upgrades for collections care and helping to launch the Great Lakes Folk Festival. Bill worked for MSU Residential & Hospitality Services with a business and project management focus before joining MSU Broad in 2014. He was instrumental in leading the creation of the MSU Broad Art Lab, an auxiliary gallery and activity space adjacent the museum. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and master’s degree in education administration both from MSU. He has been a presenter at AAMG, is the Treasurer of the Lansing Mayoral Arts Commission, and works with AAM as a peer site reviewer for museum reaccreditation.
Mary Worrall
Curator, Textiles and Social Justice Michigan State University Museum
Mary Worrall is Curator of Textiles and Social Justice at the Michigan State University Museum. Her research interests include quilts and quiltmakers, dress, women’s history, and craftivism. Worrall works with developing and managing exhibition, research, collections, and educational programs. Her work includes addressing social justice issues through exhibition, collections, and community co-curation.
Affiliate Faculty
Donna Braden
Senior Curator at The Henry Ford
Donna R. Braden has had 43 years of experience as a curator at The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan, beginning as a curatorial assistant and moving up, most recently, to Senior Curator. She has a B.A. in anthropology, with distinction in American History, from Ohio State University and M.A. degrees in Museum Studies from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, Winterthur, Delaware, and in Liberal Studies from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She has published many blogs, as well as numerous articles and books, including Spaces That Tell Stories: Recreating Historical Environments (2019), The Henry Ford Official Guidebook (2017), and Leisure and Entertainment in America: Based on the Collections of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village (1988).
Eugene Dillenburg
Writer and Exhibit Designer
Eugene Dillenburg was born in Chicago in 1960 and makes no apologies for either. Over the past 30-odd years – some of them very odd indeed – he has worked for the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and a museum on a campus down in Ann Arbor which shall not be named. He has also contributed to a wide variety of projects as a consultant, including work at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the National Canal Museum, and the Science Center of Kuwait. He currently feeds eight cats, not all of them his.
Katharine M. Hude
Owner/Attorney of Hude Legal Services PLLC, Professor of Law and Policy
Kate has a JD from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, a MS in Nonprofit Arts Administration from Boston University, and a BFA in Theatre Design & Production from the University of Michigan. Kate practices in the areas of nonprofit and business law, contracts, copyright and trademark, probate and estate planning, and real property. She also provides nonprofit consulting, association management, and advocacy services to nonprofits. A resident of Lansing, Kate is active in the community, serving as the Fund Development Committee Chair of the Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center, the Junior League of Lansing Endowment Board Chair, and as a member of the City of Lansing Mayor’s Arts and Culture Commission.
Heather-Marie Montilla
Executive Director
Heather-Marie Montilla, a dynamic integrative leader, has worked in arts, cultural, educational, and community building arenas for nearly 20 years. Having been an Executive Director for 8 years, Heather has a wide range of experience in management, finance, strategic planning, marketing and fundraising, as well as designing and implementing resource development and management plans that motivate staff and increase community engagement. Heather holds an MPA From Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs with an Advanced Management Technique and Finance and a BA from Duke University with a double major in Public Policy and Art History, as well as a Markets and Management certificate. In addition, Heather participated in the DeVos Institute of Arts Management programs focused on Capacity Building, Strategic Planning and Strategic Planning Implementation.
John Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
John E. Simmons consults and teaches collection workshops worldwide and serves as Associate Curator of Collections at the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery, Penn State University. His books include Museums: A History (2016), Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies (2nd edition, 2018), and Museum Registration Methods (6th edition, 2020).
Barb Whitney
Executive Director of the Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center
Barb Whitney is an arts educator, administrator, and visual artist. In her role as the executive director for Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center she has increased arts engagement through diversity, inclusion, and equity. Of note, Whitney serves as adjunct faculty for Michigan State University and Vice-Chair for the Mayor’s Arts & Culture Commission in Lansing, and she recently received the Michigan Art Education Association’s Distinguished Service Award. For more about Barb Whitney, visit barbwhitneyart.com, and for more about Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center, visit lansingartgallery.org.
517-374-6400 ext. 2
bwhitney@msu.edu
Graduate Students
Natalie Gentry
I have my bachelor’s in art history from grand valley state university where I also minored in classics. I am interested in museum education and bringing together communities through art. I am a native michigander and currently live with my fiance Kristopher, and our two cats Hoagie and Zero.
Chandler Parker
Chandler is a Museum Studies graduate student in the ACM&MS program at MSU. She has a passion for Ancient Egyptian history and art, and is a recent transplant to Lansing from Boston, where she studied Library and Information Science at Simmons College. She is an enthusiast for all things cat and tattoo-related, and is pursuing her studies of curatorship and collection development at MSU.
Julia Sager
Julia Sager is a graduate student focusing on Museum Studies who is pursuing a career in the curatorial field. She believes that art history is about people’s stories and wants to bring that to life through her work in the MA program and in her future endeavors. When she is not studying for classes or working, one might find her with her nose in a history book pouring over studies on German heritage in the arts and visual culture, listening to music, studying languages, or planning future travels.
Colton Wansitler
Colton Wansitler is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Flute Performance, as well as a Masters in Arts and Cultural Administration at Michigan State University. Previously he received his Masters of Music from MSU and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Flint. Apart from working as a freelance musician in Michigan, he frequently performs with Pure Winds, who performs nationally. Colton has appeared as a soloist at the Chautauqua Institute as well as performed with the Chautauqua Summer Music Festival Orchestra. He is also the recipient of the University of Michigan – Flint concerto competition two years in a row. In his free time, Colton enjoys watching Harry Potter movies with his dog, Zeke.