Collections Curation, Management & Assessment

Projects

  • Museum and archival collections management and policy development

  • Preservation assessments

  • Historic furnishings plans

  • Curation and interpretation of historic sites and museums

  • Manuscript arrangement

Clients

Erica has led and collaborated on curatorial, collections management, exhibitions, and publications projects for museums, archives, historic sites, historical societies, libraries, individuals, and companies in New England and beyond since 1999.

About

A graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture (now American Material Culture), Erica provides short-term and long-term consulting services and has expertise working with a wide range of collections sizes and budgets. 

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Recommendations

“Erica completed a Digital Preservation Assessment Report for the Sheldon Museum’s archives in 2018. She conducted an on-site visit and later delivered an extensive report that covered a broad spectrum of relevant issues, answered our concerns, and provided us with a clear path to follow toward digital sustainability for our collections. Erica is an attentive listener, conveys her knowledge clearly and concisely and has a wonderful demeanor. We highly recommend her as a consultant.” -Eva Garcelon-Hart and Lucinda Cockrell – Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History

“Our experience collaborating with Erica Donnis had a profound impact on the museum's ability to share the stories of our community history to a broader audience. Her expertise in exhibition design, an ability to respectfully navigate competing priorities and perspectives, and her proficiency in project management allowed SAM to 'bring history to life' with this full-room renovation project. Erica's capacity to ask insightful questions, to promote meaningful compromise, and to guide our staff and volunteers towards a vision that respected both our mission and our budget was invaluable. She also ensured that we maintained the appropriate conservation and accessibility standards with thoughtful care. The impact of this project will certainly become a part of SAM's legacy for the next generation - and a model for future exhibition and collections management efforts.” -Alex Lehning - Saint Albans Museum