About

When I was in graduate school, only in my wildest dreams could I imagine being immersed in Andy Warhol’s personal collection. Yet six months after graduating, I found myself at the Andy Warhol Museum archives cataloguing and researching objects for an archives-focused publication. I followed that position with AmeriCorps service in the Ohio History Service Corps as a Local History Member helping small museums increase capacity and sustainability. Working with a variety of organizations on diverse capacity-building projects has led to my current position of Executive Director of the Shaker Historical Society in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

I’ve built my skill set in a variety of organizations, mostly in small collections where I juggled collections management, research, exhibition planning, outreach, and programming on a day-to-day basis, and my flexibility, attention to detail, and project management skills are invaluable in my role as Executive Director of a small nonprofit museum. I’m happiest in busy environments where each day is different from the last.

Throughout a decade of working with museums and special collections, I adapted and learned how to best serve the needs of staff, volunteers, researchers, and visitors. Fortunately, my background with photography, art history, and digitization meshed seamlessly with new skills in exhibitions, collections, outreach, and digital humanities that allowed me to impact each institution in positive ways.


Hiker, reader, museumgoer, art lover, and cruciverbalist currently living in Cleveland, Ohio.

bltreleven@gmail.com | LinkedIn

Skills

  • Museum Collections Management Systems (The Museum System, EmbARK, PastPerfect)

  • Cataloguing

  • Digitization (Photography & Scanning)

  • Adobe Photoshop & InDesign

  • Social Media & Marketing

  • Outreach & Event Planning

  • Project Management

  • Writing & Editing

  • Grant Writing

  • Cultivating Community Relationships

  • Creative Thinking & Problem Solving

  • DACS, MARC, EAD

  • G Suite, Google Sites, SketchUp

  • Digital Humanities

Education

Master of Library and Information Science | 2016

Kent State University, Kent, OH

Museum Studies, Archives, and Special Collections


Bachelor of Fine Arts | 2012

Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

Professional Photographic Illustration, Art History

Experience

Executive Director | Shaker Historical Society | January 2020 - Present


Ohio History Service Corps - Local History Member | AmeriCorps | September 2018 - August 2019

  • Key Achievement: Coordinated Youngstown State’s Ohio History Day contest, attracted 3 new schools, managed around 250 participating students from 12 schools, and recruited around 50 volunteers

  • Developed a project budget and wrote a successful $1,000 Ohio Humanities grant for a small museum to fund an exhibit, catalogue, and related lecture resulting in a 45% increase in visitors

  • Assessed and implemented capacity-building projects at small organizations through AASLH’s StEPs program

  • Coordinated and led Suffrage Centennial planning with 10 organizations across Northeast Ohio

  • Organized and promoted 6 educational Toolbox Workshops for small organizations, museums, and the public

  • Generated engaging social media content across multiple platforms for 3 organizations


Project Cataloguer | Andy Warhol Museum | May 2017 - June 2018

  • Key Achievement: Catalogued over 2,400 objects, created and processed over 7,200 images

  • Catalogued, researched, and digitized thousands of objects for A is for Archive: Warhol’s World from A to Z (Yale University Press, 2019)

  • Assisted the Manager of Rights and Reproduction to acquire high-resolution images for the publication

  • Created finding aids for recent archival acquisitions and donations


Reinberger Children’s Library Center Assistant | Kent State University | August 2014 - September 2016

  • Key Achievement: Created item-level finding aids for 11 special collections containing over 3,000 objects

  • Copy catalogued books with SirsiDynix Symphony WorkFlows and enhanced MARC records

  • Developed policies and procedures for cataloguing, shelving, and caring for collections

  • Attended to research fellows, faculty, students, and visitors

  • Assisted with events, social media, and collection development

  • Trained and supervised student workers and volunteers

  • Co-curated an exhibition of original illustrations for a biennial symposium


Exhibition Assistant | Akron Art Museum | August 2016

  • Completed condition reports and packed objects during the deinstallation of a major exhibition


Collections and Archives Intern | Akron Art Museum | January - June 2016

  • Updated object records in EmbARK

  • Updated the archives finding aid using the OhioLINK EAD Finding Aid Encoder

  • Created loan forms, incoming/outgoing receipts, and deeds of gift

  • Created and organized hundreds of object files, collector files, donor files, and exhibition files

  • Unpacked objects and completed condition reports during the installation of a major exhibition


Collections Intern | Trumbull County Historical Society | May - December 2015

  • Developed customizable curriculum guides that aligned with Ohio Learning Standards

  • Created a new user-friendly website with Google Sites

  • Began an item-level inventory of the clippings collection


Art Cataloguing Intern | Artists Archives of the Western Reserve | June - August 2014

  • Catalogued art in PastPerfect

  • Photographed objects and processed images with Photoshop

  • Designed promotional and supplementary materials for exhibitions


Photography Department Intern | Cleveland Museum of Art | June - July 2012

  • Researched artists and topics for major exhibitions and curator talks

  • Researched and collected material for artist files, including CVs, interviews, press clippings, and reviews

  • Assisted with acquiring image and video rights for major exhibitions

  • Transferred permanent collection photographs to cool/cold storage facilities

  • Assisted with basic environmental monitoring


Co-Curator and Co-Editor | DRAFT Magazine | May 2011 - May 2012

  • Coordinated DRAFT 9, an annual independent photography publication and exhibition

  • Created a comprehensive project budget and solicited over $3,000 in monetary and in-kind donations

  • Organized and curated over 1,000 images submitted by over 100 photography students

  • Conducted meetings and maintained correspondence with students

  • Attracted around 400 visitors, sold over 250 copies of the publication, and raised $3,000 for the following year


Professional Development

The Strategic Playbook: An Intro to Strategic Planning for History Organizations | Ohio Local History Alliance | August 2019

Combating Bias: Making Historical Sites Inclusive for LGBTQ+ | Equitas Health Institute | March 2019

Designing Accessible, Usable, and Inclusive Digital Projects | Temple University | January-February 2019


Publications

Cataloguer, Researcher, and Digitization Specialist: Wrbican, Matt. A is for Archive: Warhol's World from A to Z. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.

Treleven, Brianna. "Valiant Visionaries of the Vote." History Blog (Ohio History Connection), December 10, 2019, https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/December-2019/suffrage100blogseries_December2019


Organizations

  • American Alliance of Museums

  • Society of American Archivists

  • Ohio Museums Association

  • Society of Ohio Archivists

  • Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists


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