Board of Directors

DARLENE BIALOWSKI, ccca president

Darlene Bialowski, principal of Darlene Bialowski Art Services, LLC, has been in the museum and cultural heritage preservation field for more than 25 years working first as a Curatorial Assistant at Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, MA; to being the sole Registrar for the then four Springfield Museums in Springfield, MA as well as overseeing two satellite exhibition sites at Smith & Wesson’s headquarters and its Shooting Academy; to being an independent contract Registrar. As an extension to her business, Darlene is also an accredited member of the Appraisers Association of America with her appraisal specialties in fine and decorative arts. She is an author, lecturer and at one time simultaneously President of three cultural heritage preservation non-profits. Currently the President and a co-founder of the CCCA, she also served as President and co-founder of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research and now sits as an Advisor. And she served as President for the Center for Painted Wall Preservation, currently sitting as an Advisor. With her extensive backgrounds in the fields of collections care, art, cultural preservation, appraising and being a former paralegal, Darlene’s expertise and broad network of colleagues and experts assist her in aiding clients directly or being able to make the right introductions if necessary. A Professional Affiliate member of CCCA, Darlene has served as president of the board of directors since 2019.

CAROLYN FRISA, ccca Vice-President

Carolyn Frisa received her M.A. in Paper Conservation from Camberwell College of Arts in London, England in 2000. She established Works on Paper, LLC, a private practice conservation studio in southern Vermont in 2008, and specializes in the conservation of artistic and historic works on paper, wallpaper and photographs. Prior to entering private practice, Carolyn worked as an associate paper conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center and Tate Britain. She has been a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) since 2007, is one of the Vermont team members for the AIC National Heritage Responders, and currently serves on the board of the New England Conservation Association.

Erica donnis, ccca secretary

Erica Donnis has twenty-five years of experience working as a museum curator, archivist, and collections consultant. Currently a Congressional Papers Archivist and Associate Professor at the University of Vermont, Erica is part of a team working on the arrangement, description, and preservation of Senator Patrick Leahy’s papers. Her recent independent consulting projects include curating Rail City, a new permanent exhibition for the Saint Albans Museum in Saint Albans, Vermont; assessments of museum, archival, and digital collections for several Vermont collecting institutions; and a historic furnishings plan for the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, for which she was a coauthor. Additional publications include A History of Shelburne Farms: A Changing Landscape, An Evolving Vision (2010). Based in Burlington, Vermont, Erica is a graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture (now American Material Culture). 

rodney obien, director

Rodney Obien is an associate professor and Head of Special Collections & Archives at Keene State College. He teaches in the M.A. programs in History and Archives. Obien holds a M.S. in Library Science from the Catholic University of America. He has held archival and museum positions at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, SUNY Buffalo, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Obien currently serves on the boards of the New Hampshire Historical Records Advisory Board, the Northeast Document Conservation Center, and the Collection Care & Conservation Alliance.

Kelly bartlett, director

Kelly Bartlett is an emerging professional in the field of archival management located in Vermont. As independent archivist, she focuses on promoting accessibility to archival material, bringing collections online and into the classroom where they can be used to encourage interdisciplinary education. Working alongside libraries, museums, and issue-oriented organizations she has partnered with groups including the Bixby Library, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and OurStoryBridge Inc. Kelly holds a dual MA/MSIS in English and Information Science from UAlbany and currently serves on the board of the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum and the Collections Care & Conservation Alliance. 

leslie rowell, ccca treasurer

Leslie Rowell is a freelance archivist, serving organizations in the care, management, and accessibility of their archival and 3-D collections. She currently works with the Bread and Puppet Theater, the Greensboro and Stowe Historical Societies, and private collections. Previously as archivist for the Unitarian Church of Montpelier Records Project, the Old Stone House Museum, Sterling College, and field interviewer for the Vermont Historical Society Vermont 70s Project, she has guided all facets of collections work, including the processing and management of photographic collections, digitization, digital assets management, records management, and implementing environmental controls. She has completed 21 credits toward her MS degree in the Simmons University Master of Library and Information Science: Archives Management Concentration program.

kristie couser, director

As assistant registrar at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Kristie coordinates all registration activities for special exhibitions and creates and maintains documentation relating to acquisitions, deaccessioning, digitization, rights and reproductions, art movement, and conservation. She collaboratively re-evaluates cataloging practices toward making data more expansive, accurate, and accessible, working to affirm the relevance of the Hood’s collections to students and faculty across disciplines. Previously, Kristie held curatorial assistantships at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, specializing in works on paper. She is a member of the Hood’s Accessibility Working Group and serves on the Mentoring Program Subcommittee of the Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists.

eileen corcoran, director

Eileen Corcoran currently serves as Director of Service & Outreach at the Vermont Historical Society, working mainly with local historical societies and museums around the state. She has twenty years of experience working with and for museums and other cultural organizations, including the Vermont Museum & Gallery Alliance, Upstate (NY) History Alliance, the National Museum of the Morgan Horse, and the National Museum of Natural History. She also serves as an independent consultant and contractor specializing in collections care and management. She earned her B.A. in Anthropology at Ithaca College, and her M.A. in Anthropology with a Concentration in Museum Training from The George Washington University. Eileen resides in Waltham, VT.

rachel onuf, director

Rachel Onuf is the Director of the Vermont Historical Records Program, based at the Vermont State Archives & Records Administration. She serves as a Director of the Collections Care & Conservation Alliance and a co-lead of the Vermont Arts & Culture Disaster and Resilience Network (VACDaRN). As Chair of the NEDCC Advisory Committee, she is a member of the NEDCC Board of Directors; she is also Board Secretary for the Old Stone House Museum and Historic Village. Rachel received her BA from Swarthmore College, an MA in Library & Information Science from the University of Michigan and an MA in American History from the University of Virginia. Past jobs include serving as Roving Archivist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Director of Archives at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. She taught as an adjunct for Simmons College School of Library and Information Science and worked as a consultant for many years. She lives on a sidehill farm near the village of East Orange.