Regional Contacts
Download the NAME region map (PDF 210 kb)
JAN CROCKER
Independent
New England Regional Representative
Jan is passionate about every aspect of making exhibits from content development to installing artifacts and everything in between. Her work has primarily been in exhibition project management and traveling exhibits in museums both nationally and internationally. Through projects with her own company, she now works more closely with museums of all sizes and types in New England. Jan is currently Co-Chair of the Exhibits Professional Affinity Group of the New England Museum Association. “I would like to use my position on the NAME Board to develop opportunities for training emerging professionals in the skills they need for working in the exhibits field and to help everyone find their own voices as makers of exhibits.”
ELLIE BYROM-HALEY
Gecko Group
Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative
As founder and creative director at Gecko Group, and throughout more than 20 years in graphic and dimensional design, Ellie has built an outstanding reputation managing complex design, advertising, and exhibit projects for agencies and museums in San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia. Specializing in exhibit planning and design, wayfinding, communications design, and marketing, she directs the creative efforts of the firm as well as manages business process. Ellie’s design and management expertise as Principal / Partner with Byrom, Cahan & Associates in San Francisco and as Art Director and Creative Group Head in numerous New York advertising agencies and museums have provided her with a strong foundation in creative and business strategy. She has provided creative direction and inspiration on numerous exhibit and wayfinding projects, including the award-winning Range of the Jaguar at Jacksonville Zoo, Kidstory! for Old Sturbridge Village, the New Jersey State Legislature’s Welcome Center, and the SEGD-profiled Adventure Aquarium wayfinding project. “As a board member of NAME I would like to promote local social and educational activities for NAME members and potential new members. I believe the professional development and interaction with peers can be enlightening and inspiring. I would also like to continue to address the RFP process and professional ethics.”
DARCIE MACMAHON
Florida Museum of Natural History
Southeastern Regional Representative
Darcie serves as NAME’s Southeast Regional Rep and also heads up the sponsorship program. She became involved with NAME because she believes it is the best forum for people interested in museum exhibitions to network, share ideas, support excellence, develop best practices, and move the field forward. “As Regional Rep I try to carry this mission to the region and its conference, especially to expand exhibition dialogue among colleagues from smaller institutions who do not have resources to be involved at AAM. This is my first year coordinating sponsorships, a program which is vital to our well-being and allows us to do what we do best – conference events, forward-thinking initiatives, and the Exhibitionist – our amazing journal.”
SWARUPA ANILA
Detroit Institute of Arts
Midwest Regional Representative
As senior interpretive specialist at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Swarupa leads a staff that creates exhibition interpretation with the goal of facilitating inspiring, challenging, and memorable visitor experiences with art. During the DIA’s reinstallation project that opened 90 newly installed galleries in 2007, Swarupa participated on cross-departmental teams to reconceptualize the collection based on visitor studies, learner-centered interpretive strategies, and principles of experience design. She has presented papers on visitor-centered interpretation at national conferences, including AAM, and has served as a consultant to institutions such as Cranbrook Art Museum and the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. “As a member of NAME, I look forward to participating in and shaping dialogues about best exhibition practices in museum work and particularly as they inform art museum contexts.”
Mountain-Plains Regional Representative
APPOINTMENT PENDING
TINA KEEGAN
Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
Western Regional Representative
Tina is the Exhibits Director at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo in California. She has been developing and designing exhibits for 12 years at a variety of museums, including Cranbrook Institute of Science, The Tech Museum of Innovation, and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. She has worked on exhibitions about geology, high tech creative play, genetics, the math of circles, and renewable energy. She has also created early childhood exhibitions, including The Wonder Cabinet, which won an Excellence in Exhibitions Competition award from the American Association of Museums in 2007. She enjoys working at the Junior Museum & Zoo, because of the unique combination of science exhibits for children, animal exhibits, and nature-based play. “As a regional representative, I would like to support museum colleagues in the west by facilitating networking, professional development and dialogue within the field. My past experience at large science centers and children’s museums in different stages of their “lives” (from just opening to very well-established) and my current experience at a small, municipal museum and zoo for children will provide a diverse perspective as a representative of NAME members.”
