The Museum Group (TMG) has dissolved after 28 years serving the museum field.

Many members continue to maintain thriving independent consultancies.

Original Senior Advisors

Tom Leavitt *

Joel Bloom *

George Tressel *

Michael Spock *

+ Founding member * Deceased.

Sadly, we have lost touch with many former members, who we realize may also no longer be with us. We apologize to any former members we have missed in this list and welcome additions.

Our consortium of independent professionals who work with museums and other nonprofit organizations was founded in 1996. TMG provided a network and home for former senior museum employees who were used to having a work community of friends and colleagues.

From the start, TMG wanted not only to work with museums but also to contribute to the field. We hosted Conversations large and small at AAM meetings, brought two dozen museum professionals together for the first Museums & Race discussion, successfully lobbied for changes to AAM’s policies on who can propose and present sessions at the Annual Meeting; membership categories and voting rights; and service on its governing board, committees, and peer review panels.

Members have completed thousands of projects for clients around the world, published books and articles in professional journals, convened colleagues to address critical challenges, spoken at dozens of professional conferences, taught countless graduate students, and served on the boards of individual museums and professional associations.

In the last 28 years, museums have changed dramatically. The issues TMG’s members have collectively cared about will never be resolved, but they are front and center in professional dialogues. Independent professionals are seen as essential to the success of museums and their missions. Today, the museum field has a multitude of outlets for identifying the consultants it needs. With that in mind, the current members of TMG scanned the field and the extent to which consultants are now considered integral to museum work and decided the time has come to cease operations.

This YouTube conversation reveals early challenges for independents—and the political strategy that gave TMG a presence and voice within the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Elaine Heumann Gurian, Maureen Robinson, Mary Ellen Munley, Daryl Fischer, and Laura Roberts share stories with Paul Orselli about the group’s collaborative, generous spirit; trends in museums and society that contributed to TMG’s success; the reputation TMG earned over the years; and the factors that led to its graceful disbanding in 2024.

Members 1996 – 2024

Salvador Acevedo

Anne Ackerson

Marianna Adams

Gail Anderson

Joe Ansel

Bob Beatty

Leslie Bedford

Vincent Beggs

Anne Bergeron

James Blackaby +*

Margaret Blagg

Carol Bossert

Ann Barton Brown

Janeen Bryant

Anne Butterfield +

Jane Clark Chermayeff *

Tim Chester

Dan Danzig

Jim Davis

Amina Dickerson

David Ellis

Alan Emery

Carma Fauntleroy

Daryl Fischer +

Darcie Fohrman

Diane Frankel

Alan Friedman *

Sheila Grinell

Elaine Heumann Gurian +

Barbara Henry

Kathryn Hill +

Ellen Hirzy

Mary Kay Ingenthron *

Charmaine Jefferson

Gretchen Jennings

Frank Jewell +*

Andrea Jones

Margaret Kadoyama

Janet Kamien *

Matt Kirchman

Amparo Leyman Pino

Christine Lockett

Deborah Mack

Andy Merriell

Barbara Meyerson

Mary Ellen Munley

Evelyn Orantes

Paul Orselli

Leslie Patten *

Judy Rand +

Estevan Rael-Galvez

Tamara Real *

Paul Richard *

Laura Roberts +

Doug Robinson *

Maureen Robinson

Marsha Semmel

Judith Siegel

Deborah Schwartz

Beverly Sheppard

Myriam Springuel +

Pat Steuert +

Annie V. F. Storr

Jean Svadlenak

Bill Talbot

Beth Tuttle

James Volkert

Lisa Watt

Robert (Mac) West +

Judy White

Marcia White

Susie Wilkening

Patricia Williams *

Jim Zien +