Abbe Museum Staff
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko
Chief Executive Officer
Raney Bench
Curator of Education
John Brown
Director of Finance & Administration
Julia Clark
Curator of Collections
Pepper Cwik
Development Associate
Blake Greene
Office Coordinator
Astra Haldeman
Educator & Retail Specialist
Abbe Museum Trustees
Sandra K. Wilcox, Ph.D., President
Barbara McLeod, Vice President
David Shultz, Treasurer
Christina Baker, Ph.D.
John Benson, M.D.
Ellen Dohmen
William Haviland, Ph.D.
Linda Jensen
Margaret Kelley
Steven Raab
Darren Ranco, Ph.D.
Arthur Spiess, Ph.D.
Linda Stretch, Secretary
Kessi Watters Kimball
Alice Wellman, Honorary Trustee
Staff Bios:
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko is the CEO of the Abbe Museum and has worked in museums for nearly 15 years and has been a museum leader since 2001. Prior to joining the Abbe as CEO on June 1, 2009, Cinnamon was the director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum (www.ben-hur.com) in Crawfordsville, Indiana where she led the organization to the National Medal for Museum Service in 2008. A passionate advocate for museums – their successes and their needs – she is a frequent presenter at national museum meetings. She serves as a council member for the American Association for State and Local History and is the 2010 Program Chair for the Oklahoma City conference. Since 2004, Cinnamon has served on of the Small Museums Committee for AASLH and was the founding chair. For the past five years, she has served on the Conservation Assessment Program Advisory Committee for Heritage Preservation and as a peer reviewer for the American Association of Museums. She has also served as a grant reviewer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2004, the Indiana Historical Society published Cinnamon’s first book The Art of Healing: The Wishard Art Collection. She is also co-editor of and chapter author for the Small Museum Toolkit, a six book series, to be published by Altamira Press in 2011. Cinnamon holds a BA in anthropology and art history from Purdue University and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) MA program in anthropology with a specialization in museum studies. She lives on MDI with her husband and son.
Julia Clark is the Collections Manager at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor. She is responsible for the care of the museum's collections, maintenance of collections records, and care of the library and archives. One of her first tasks at the Abbe was to move their collections from the original 1928 building to the new museum, which opened in 2001. She is also involved in exhibit development and preparation, and facilities management. She has a B.A. in anthropology from Bowdoin College and a M.A. in anthropology from the University of Arkansas, with course work in museum studies. Julia worked for seven summers and three years year-round doing cultural resource management archaeology in Maine. In her spare time Julia is a captain in the Orland Volunteer Fire Department, and vice president of the Hancock County Firefighters Association.
Pepper Cwik, Development Associate, grew up in LaGrange, Illinois the oldest of three daughters. She went to college at Illinois State University and graduated with a BS in Finance. After graduating she joined her mother in managing a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store purchased the prior year by her family. In January 1991 Pepper and her husband, Dave, purchased a home in Maine. In 1995, Pepper became a trustee of the Southwest Harbor Public Library and became President in 1996 with the mandate that the Library needed to expand. As President, she spearheaded a building committee to plan the expansion and a capital campaign to raise the necessary funds. A total of $1.25 million was raised for this project and in June 2000, the newly expanded library was opened to the public. In December 2001, Pepper joined the Abbe Museum family and in stepped down from her position as President of the library. She continues to serve on the Board of Trustees at the Southwest Harbor Public Library. Pepper and Dave happily live on Echo Lake with their two cats Dillon and Figment.
Raney Bench, Curator of Education, was born in Minnesota, raised in California, and has been a resident of Southwest Harbor since moving to Maine three years ago to join the staff at the Abbe. Raney holds a BA in Native American Studies from Humboldt State University, Arcada California with a minor in Anthropology/Archaeology and a MA in Museum Studies from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Having started her museum career as Director of Collections for the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, VT, she soon found that her interest in federal Indian policy and people kept taking her to the classroom to teach. Raney taught for the Community College of Vermont for several years. In 1998 she came to Maine for the first time and visited the Abbe Museum. Instantly falling in love, she knew she wanted to work for the Abbe. "It took almost 10 years to do it, but I'm thrilled to be working for this museum. I continue to be active in collections related work through consultation with other museums."