Linda Whelian looks back on her time as BMAC Education Curator

Linda Whelihan joined the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center staff in February 2016 after working as a volunteer docent since she moved to the area 14 years ago. In the time she's been here, she has dramatically expanded BMAC's reach and connection with teachers and students. As Linda moves on to the next chapter in her career, we sat down with her to reflect on the work she's done with us over the past four years.

BMAC: How would you describe your tenure as Education Curator at BMAC?

Whelihan: BMAC was a perfect fit for me after teaching in the local schools (Marlboro and Dover) and working as a visiting artist on community art projects. Museums are one of my happy places, and we are so fortunate to live in a town where citizens dreamed up and continue to support such a jewel of a museum. I've been even luckier to be able to share the riches with other folks through my role as Education Curator.

BMAC: What will you miss most about your time at BMAC?

Whelihan: I thrive on collaboration and will really miss my superstar colleagues, our dear volunteers and Museum friends, teachers, kids, and the community partners I've worked with over the past four years. I hope all the kids who have come through our doors feel that the Museum is their “special place,” too, and will bring their families by the hand to BMAC to be energized by the space and artwork. It's a dream job to be able to facilitate opportunities for people to connect to one another and to help them realize their own creative potential.

I’ve had the opportunity to mentor interns, including Maddy Conley, who went on to get a master’s in museum education. I got to bring art to seniors at Holton Home, Bradley House, and Pine Heights. I presented art to local schoolchildren at Green Street, Oak Grove, Marlboro, Dover, Guilford, Hinsdale, Academy, Wardsboro, Windham, and The Grammar School through our ArtExpress program. I worked especially closely with Rachel Mangean, the art teacher at the Green Street School.

I also had a great partnership with Lizi Rosenberg, who was formerly at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Lizi and I presented “Fun with Food and Art” once a month. We had kids come to the Museum to look at artwork, then go back to the Co-op kitchen to cook something related to the art. That program has been on hiatus and was just about to restart, but it’s on hold for now because of the shutdown. We’re hoping it will start back up in the future.

BMAC: What are some of your favorite Museum projects?

Whelihan: Of course, curating GLASSTASTIC! What a wonderful exhibit that my predecessor Susan Calabria started, from the teachers and parents who help get their kids to dream up creatures, to the amazingly talented artists who so lovingly honor the kids’ drawings with their glass creatures. Want an alternative form of energy? Figure out how to harness the power of the beaming smiles in the gallery during that exhibition.

Another favorite moment occurred outside of the Museum, when Emily Mason came to speak to Academy School sixth graders. The students had visited the Museum to see Mason’s exhibition and were inspired by her artwork to write poems. What an uplifting moment to see young people so excited to share their words with someone so special.

In 2017, I worked with Paul Gambill of the Community Engagement Lab (CEL) on a statewide project involving Grammy-winning jazz guitarist John Jorgenson. Our ArtExpress kids created art responding to Jorgenson’s music, and their artwork decorated the Latchis Theatre during Jorgenson’s Brattleboro concert. They also helped to decorate the set design.

More recently, I worked with CEL and the three artists of Ask the River, a community art project focused on the Connecticut River. All the artists—Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman—have exhibited at BMAC before, and Ask the River had a collective exhibit at BMAC this winter. This spring, they were supposed to work with senior centers and schools to create huge cyanotype banners. Now that we can’t be together in person, we’ve been working to make the project happen in another way. Things are still happening—we’re still trying to find ways to connect with the artists and the students.

I had planned to leave the Museum at the end of this school year to be able to be more helpful to my parents in Maryland, but I certainly had no idea the year would end as it has. I'm reluctant to leave something so dear... Hey, now that everything is remote anyway, maybe I can still help folks connect through art here or there! I'll look forward to brainstorming about ways to do that!

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We asked some of the folks who have worked closely with Linda to reflect on their experiences. Here is what they said:

“At a time when I was still figuring out what I wanted to do, Linda took me in as an intern at BMAC and taught me everything I know about art education. By the end of my internship, and so many hours learning from Linda, I knew I wanted to be an art educator. Even after getting my master’s in art education and spending several years of working in the field, I still think I've learned the most important things about art and teaching from her. She is the most creative, funny, level, and kind person. I still am learning so much from her—she's my mentor and my friend.”

—Maddy Conley, Programs Coordinator, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

“I met Linda a few years back when starting as the art teacher at Green Street. Linda always reached out to me to rally my classes to explore the new exhibits at the Museum, share new lesson ideas, and see if she could help in any way. It is just so easy to have a conversation and collaborate with Linda, whether it was bringing her into my classroom or hosting a couple of my classes a day at the Museum. She gave my students opportunities that they wouldn’t have had without her help and expertise. She is a great, well-rounded person, teacher, and friend, and I am going to miss joining forces with her.”

—Rachel Mangean, Art Teacher, Green St. School

“Linda is that rare mix of artist, educator, organizer, and visionary that is so hard to find. She has the ability to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in ways that surprise and inspire, always leading people to work together in ways that build a shared sense of ownership and pride in their projects.”

—Paul Gambill, Executive Director, Community Engagement Lab

“We could not imagine a more steady, supportive and imaginative mentor, always at the ready to move projects along in constructive and thoughtful ways. Compassionate, wise, wry, a collaborator, open to wacky ideas yet ever-practical. She is an educator at heart: we all learn from her.”

—Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman, Ask the River artists

"The first time I met Linda, I was drawn to her glasses. That is not to say that I didn't grow to love many other parts of her in the four years that we worked together teaching our ‘Fun with Food and Art’ classes at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. I admired her funky clothes, her energetic walk, and her ability to come up with a lesson plan for our classes faster than it takes to fry an egg. Yet, her glasses. They are the thing that brings me back to the parts of Linda I love the most: playfulness, creativity, color, elegance, and style. Thank you, Linda, for the laughter, the support, and the adventures.”

—Lizi Rosenberg, former Education and Outreach Coordinator, Brattleboro Food Co-op

“All of us who have had the pleasure of working with Linda—day in, day out—for the past four years are going to miss her terribly. She is an absolutely tremendous colleague—funny, generous, always willing to pitch in, and a great baker, to boot! But more importantly, Linda is amazing at what she does—enriching the lives of children and adults from all walks of life through art and creativity. BMAC owes Linda a huge debt of gratitude, which we will try to pay forward by picking up where she has left off and elevating BMAC’s community connections to even greater heights.”

—Danny Lichtenfeld, Director, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center