The Cherry Valley Group
PO Box 497
Cherry Valley, NY 13320
Voice: (607)
264-8195
Fax: (607) 264-8195
Email: blake@cherryvalley.com
WORK
EXPERIENCE:
1/02 - Present The Cherry Valley Group, Cherry Valley,
New York: FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL. – Providing general
management & operations, exhibition, and historic preservation services for
museums and cultural organizations.
Specializing in Project Management services
Founded with three other colleagues CVG is a
business focused on helping cultural organizations find innovative and
integrative solutions that maximize organizational effectiveness by
strengthening team dynamics, decision-making and problem solving capacity. The
Cherry Valley Group is particularly committed to helping historical
organizations to connect to their communities through innovative
interpretation, exhibits and public programming, and to understand the
systematic and long-term implications of project decisions and actions that
will sustain or undermine the organization's success in engaging new audiences
and building community partnerships and collaboration. The principals bring over 100 years of
experience to provide the core services
of the business, which include organizational management and planning,
operations, exhibitions, interpretation, public programs, historic
preservation, and collections. The
Cherry Valley Group works with a wide network of associates and specialists to
serve clients throughout the United States and Canada.
6/02 – 3-04 State University of New York Research
Foundation, SUNYIT Utica-Rome, NY: PROJECT MANAGER. – Project management of Web
archives research programs, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the
Library of Congress.
3/98 – 1/02 Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield
Village, Dearborn, Michigan: SENIOR PROGRAM DEVELOPER, EXPERIENCE DESIGN
DEPT. – Project management of institute wide programs, including new
exhibitions, historic structures restorations and installations, and related
major construction programs.
1/95 – 3/98 Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield
Village, Dearborn, Michigan: DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES - Administration
of institute wide data and telecommunications systems, coordination of museum
information systems, and promotion of information technology advancements.
9/91 - 12/94 Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield
Village, Dearborn, Michigan: HEAD, COLLECTION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMS – Administration
of Conservation, Registrar, Collection Management and Care, Photography and
Historic Operating Machinery Departments.
3/83 - 9/91 Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield
Village, Dearborn, Michigan: CONSERVATOR OF HISTORIC STRUCTURES - Responsible
for the preservation of over 80 historic buildings from the 17th century to the
20th century. Coordinated the
restoration of historic structures for new and existing exhibits.
7/82 -2/83 Georgia Agrirama Development
Authority, Tifton, Georgia: DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES – Management
of one of the two divisions of the State Museum of Agriculture, inclusive of
the departments of administration, merchandising, maintenance, restoration, and
capital development. Responsible for
fiscal management of the museum, and physical development master planning and
implementation.
7/81 - 12/81 Georgia Agrirama Development Authority,
Tifton, Georgia: ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Responsible for
interim management of all aspects of the State Museum of Agriculture.
5/78 - 7/81 Georgia Agrirama Development
Authority, Tifton, Georgia: DIRECTOR OF RESTORATION - Headed
Maintenance and Restoration Department.
Responsible for the development and maintenance of a 70acre outdoor
museum site with 30 historic buildings; the planning, research, design and
implementation of all capital development projects.
5/77 - 5/78 Department of Natural Resources,
Heritage Hill State Park, Green Bay, Wisconsin: RESTORATION SPECIALIST - Research
and implementation of interior restoration projects for several 19th century
buildings in a regional outdoor museum.
EDUCATION:
9/76 - 1/77 St. Lawrence College
Brockville, Ontario, Canada
Non-Degree Program - Historic
Structures
Restoration and Preservation
Technology
9/68 - 5/72 State University of New York at
Albany
Albany, New York
BA - History, Major / Physical
Geography, Minor
PROFESSIONAL
AFFILIATIONS:
·
Green
Bay Area Preservation League - Charter Member and President 1978
·
Association
for Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums - Executive Committee
member 1984-87, 1987 Conference Committee Co-Chair, 1993 Conference Chair, 2004
Schlebecker Award recipient
·
Association
for Preservation Technology
·
Society
for Commercial Archeology - Board Member 1989 –1994, Vice President 1992-1993
·
Museum
Computer Network
·
Ypsilanti
Historic District Commissioner – 1994 – 2002, Vice-Chair 1994 -1998
ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS:
·
An
Agricultural Museum for North Carolina: a Feasibility Study for the Creation of
a Living History Farm. The Northwest Historical Farm and
Agricultural Museum Committee, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC, 1985.
·
"Moving
and Reconstructing the Firestone Farmstead." Herald. Vol. 14.
Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, 1985: pp. 28-33.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND
RESTORATIONS: