Rogers museum director search down to four

Rogers Historical Museum at 313 S. Second St.
Rogers Historical Museum at 313 S. Second St.

ROGERS — City officials have narrowed the search for a Historical Museum director to four candidates.

“We are in the final stages of the process,” Mayor Greg Hines said.

Hines said he and the museum commission are wrapping up interviews with the applicants. He said he plans to do the final interview next week.

The museum has been without a director since December, when it opened in the renovated Hailey Ford/ Rogers Morning News building at 313 S. Second St. John Burroughs oversaw the move to the new building before he resigned. He was director since 2013.

Commissioner Kathleen Dickerson said the museum provides a “flavor of home” and whoever leads it should have strong knowledge of the area’s history. She added the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville are successful in part because they work well with the community. The Rogers Historical Museum will need to do the same, she said.

Hines said he wants to hire a director who has the management and budgeting skills necessary for the job.

Among the top four candidates is Terrilyn Wendling, who has been the interim director since Burroughs’ resignation. Wendling has been assistant director since 2013. She started at the museum as a collections assistant in 2006 and has also worked as the curator of collections. Wend-ling previously was a collections assistant at High Point Museum in High Point, N.C., for about 1½ years, according to her resume.

The other candidates are Nic Clark, Elisabeth Sommer, and Heather Wells.

Clark owns Civil War Tours of New Orleans, a business he has operated since 2014, according to his resume. Clark was the assistant director and museum program assistant at MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock from 2012-14. He also has worked as a tourism coordinator assistant for St. Martinville, La., a tour guide, park guide and park ranger.

Sommer has worked for the University of Texas at El Paso since 2017, first as an adjunct professor of museum studies and then as the director of museum studies and a lecturer, according to her resume. She also worked as the education curator for the El Paso Museum of Art and as the director of research and interpretation for the Staten Island Historical Society.

Wells has worked for museums in Northwest Arkansas for about 20 years, according to her resume. She went from the University of Arkansas Museum in Fayetteville in the early 2000s to the Shiloh Museum as its collections assistant and technology coordinator. She is the digital media project manager at Crystal Bridges, where she has worked in various positions since 2010.

Thomas Dunlap, human resources director for the city, said 29 people applied for the job between late May and early August.

The city advertised a salary range of about $53,500 to about $67,000, but a candidate with a lot of experience could make a higher salary, Dunlap said.

The museum’s 2019 budget is about $700,000. Its money comes from the city’s general fund.

Alex Golden may be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAalexgolden.

Thomas Dunlap, human resources director for the city, said 29 people applied for the job between late May and early August.

Snapshot

The Rogers Historical Museum opened in 1975 in a rented 1905 former bank building. The Harold Hawkins family donated the 1895 Hawkins House on South Second Street seven years later, and an addition was completed in 1987. Efforts to expand again began in 2006, and the Hailey Ford/ Rogers Morning News building became available in 2015 when Northwest Arkansas Newspapers closed its Rogers office. Northwest Arkansas Newspapers is the parent company of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Source: Staff Report

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