Friends of the Art Museum Board

Louise Cadwell, Chair

Louise has worked with schools and children throughout her career with aesthetics, integrated studies, and community engagement as guiding principles. Most recently, she consulted with educators across North America through Cadwell Collaborative: Sustainability Education and School Design. Louise attended Middlebury College, earned a M. Ed. from Lesley University and received her Ph.D. from Union Institute. Louise is the author of Bringing Reggio Emilia Home: An Innovative Approach to Early Childhood Education, Bringing Learning to Life: The Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education, and editor of In the Spirit of the Studio: Learning from the Atelier of Reggio Emilia.

Lisa McLaughlin Wyncoop, Vice Chair

Lisa McLaughlin Wyncoop has worked in education for her whole professional life, focusing on international students in both university and high school levels. She is a former adjunct professor at Columbia University as well as a former teacher of English as a second language in the US and Spain. Most recently she was Education Manager at the Wells Mountain Initiative, in charge of the international scholarship program. She graduated from Boston College with degrees in English and philosophy and holds a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language from Saint Michael’s College. Lisa also currently serves on the Porter Hospital Auxiliary board and is a former board member of WomenSafe. She and her husband live in Orwell, where they raised two sons. She’s proud to continue her work on community-building through art and education by serving on the Friends of the Art Museum board.

Linda Mason, Secretary

A Middlebury graduate, Linda never got to take a course from Authur Healey because his courses always conflicted with required courses for her major, English Literature. Her art education was mostly in museums, many great museums, but one of her favorites is the Addison Gallery in Andover, MA where she lived for 37 years, prior to moving here. The Addison is also a teaching museum on a school campus, and she always found the diversity of their exhibits stimulating and instructive. She is excited by this opportunity, both to learn from, and to support Middlebury’s wonderful art museum.

Douglas Perkins ’94, Treasurer

Doug has been part of the museum staff since 2001 serving in various capacities. In his latest role as Associate Director for Operations and Finance his responsibilities include a little of everything: communications, digital content, budgeting, accounting, auction bidding, copier and fax repair. He’s been a semi-pro cyclist, a bartender, a poet, a web developer, and many other things, and is currently thinking about learning Gaelic.

Sarah Briggs ’14.5

After graduating from Middlebury College with a degree in History of Art, Sarah worked in art galleries and nonprofits in Missoula, Montana where she pursued her loves of educating people about art and painting mountains. Sarah returned east to obtain a Masters in Art Education at Harvard before happily resettling in Vermont and working at the Middlebury College Museum of Art for two years as Sabarsky Fellow. Sarah is now the Executive Director of Middlebury Studio School, creating accessible arts programming for people of all ages in Addison County.

Don Burns ’78

Don is a recently retired geologist who has lived in Addison County for the past forty five years. He is a graduate of Middlebury College (BA Geology) and also pursued a graduate degree at Tyler School of Art (MFA Sculpture, Class of ’83). Although he chose a profession in Geology, he has held a persistent interest in the Visual Arts throughout his life. As a Board member he is interested in exploring creative ways and opportunities for the Museum to share its resources with the local community of Addison County and beyond.

Lynn Dunton

Lynn served at Middlebury College for 18 years before retiring in 2019 to pursue professional work more closely aligned with her longstanding interest in conflict resolution. In 2014, she founded Trillium Resolutions, a mediation practice serving families and organizations throughout Vermont. An art enthusiast and maker from an early age, Lynn has maintained a lifelong engagement with the arts. As a first-generation college student, attending art school was a parental non-negotiable. Over the past 50 years, she has continued to cultivate her artistic interests through workshops, classes, and visits to art museums in the United States and abroad. Lynn is delighted to join the Friends of the Art Museum Board and to reconnect with the Middlebury College community.

Theresa Harris

Theresa Harris was raised with a deep appreciation of the visual and performing arts. She studied classical dance, graduated from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia with a degree in Textile Design, and had a fulfilling career in the design world. Theresa moved to Middlebury in 2016 from Boston and was the director of Edgewater Gallery until May of 2025. She currently serves on the board of The New Music on the Point, volunteers at Town Hall Theater, does private fine art consulting and curation, and works to promote both the visual and performing arts in Vermont. She is honored to serve on the board of the Friends of the Art Museum and to work with the other members of the board to raise awareness of this valuable resource for the college and Middlebury community.

Kelly Hickey

Kelly Hickey is a graduate of the University of Delaware in Apparel Design. She has spent more than thirty years as a textile artist and entrepreneur working to raise awareness concerning textile overconsumption and waste. Kelly is also a community organizer, engaging participants in place-making projects to enhance a sense of belonging and well-being through art initiatives. She is a National Arts Strategies Fellow and recipient of the 2021 Bonnie and John McCardell Citizen’s award. Kelly has served on The Henry Sheldon Board of Trustees and recently filled a one-year term as interim Collections Manager/Curator. She is excited to join FOAM and bring more community into the fold of the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

Carole Mahoney

Carole Mahoney is a recent transplant to Vermont. She and her husband, Steve Mahoney (Middlebury ’78), spent nearly thirty years in California—twenty-five in Mill Valley, where they raised their two children, and the last five in the Truckee–Tahoe area. Trained in peer support, resiliency, and restorative justice practices, Carole co-founded a program that organized service trips for the bereaved community, leading sixteen international trips and three retreats over twelve years. Before moving to California, Carole and her husband lived in the Chicago area. “When I was living and working downtown, I was lucky enough to walk by the Picasso, Calder, and Joan Miró sculptures and the Chagall mosaics on a daily basis,” she recalls. “I’m thrilled to now be part of the Friends’ efforts to bring more public art to Middlebury.”

Barbara Marlow

Barbara has loved living in Middlebury the past 45 years. A Michigan State University graduate who majored in Fine Arts but taught high school math in Colorado for 8 years, she transitioned to college admissions at Middlebury after moving here in 1980 with her husband Hugh, and their family. The last 20 years of Barbara’s time in admissions were focused on international admissions, offering the occasional opportunity to explore great museums around the world. Barbara sings and performs with Maiden Vermont Chorus, is an avid pickleball player, and is excited to learn more about the workings of this wonderful museum and to help this community better appreciate all that the Middlebury College Museum of Art has to offer to everyone.

Lisa Mitchell

Lisa Mitchell serves as Executive & Artistic Director of Town Hall Theater, where she oversees programming, operations, marketing, fundraising, event management, and leads a dedicated team of theater professionals. A multi-disciplinary arts and event producer with a background in communications, Lisa brings extensive experience designing and executing large-scale cultural initiatives that foster shared community experiences. She represents Addison and Rutland Counties in the Vermont Arts Council Creative Network and co-founded Middlebury Underground, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to presenting innovative performances and events. Nationally, Lisa produced multi-market tours for Condé Nast brands including Gourmet and Bon Appétit, as well as CBS Radio, and previously led a communications division of a Washington, D.C. firm owned by Burson-Marsteller before founding her own marketing communications companies. She holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard, where she studied creative writing, visual art, and theater.

Amy Panitz ’76.5

A Middlebury graduate, Amy studied art, went on to receive a Masters in Education degree at Bank Street College of Education, and taught middle school history in Washington, DC and Manchester, Vermont. She annually brought her students to tour the Middlebury College Museum of Art as part of their studies. Since retiring from teaching, Amy served on the board of Maple Street School, Manchester, Vermont. When she moved to Middlebury in 2015, she established an art practice in her studio in her house. She has taken classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore and completed two residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson.

Erin Sassin

Erin Eckhold Sassin is Associate Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at Middlebury College, where she teaches modern architectural history and theory. She received her PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Brown University in 2012. Her research is closely linked to her teaching interests: she has published on gender and design, the intersection of architecture, power, and ethnicity on the borders of the German Empire, as well as on Acoustic Ecology and the built environment. Her 2020 book, Single People and Mass Housing in Germany, was awarded a 2019 fellowship from the Graham Foundation. Her co-edited volume, States of Emergency: Architecture, Urbanism, and the First World War, informed a student-curated exhibition at the Davis Family Library in 2023. With her students, Erin curated two exhibitions at the MCMA—Bloom and Doom: Vienna 1900 (2016) and Weimar, Dessau, Berlin: the Bauhaus as School and Laboratory (2020)—as well as Ornament and Identity at the Sheldon Museum (2025).