Key New Roles At Guild Hall

Last week, Guild Hall announced the appointment of Jonquil Schaller-Harris as its new membership, annual fund and communications manager, a position tasked with expanding and diversifying membership with hands-on cultivation, inventive activities, and outreach to increase involvement and support for the institution.

Additionally, new roles have been established for existing staff members including Joe Brondo, who has been named director of digital content, Casey Dalene as the newly created Lewis B. Cullman Associate Curator for Learning and Public Engagement, and Anthony Madonna’s expanded role as the Patti Kenner Senior Associate for Learning & Public Engagement.

All four individuals will work closely with Executive Director Andrea Grover and inaugural Chief Creative Officer Amy Kirwin to communicate the institution’s strategic plan.

“A major focus of Guild Hall’s Strategic Plan (2020-2025) is to blend creative disciplines and work across departments,” said Grover. “These four new hybrid roles, occupied by talented team members, will help build communications and strategies institution-wide.”

Schaller-Harris previously served as the membership and communications manager of ArtTable, an organization dedicated to promoting leadership development for women in the visual arts. In addition to fostering member cultivation and support, she also managed communication efforts on all platforms and spearheaded the Career Roundtable and ArtTable Fellowship initiatives designed to promote equity and diversity in arts leadership.

She has a keen interest in history and social activism. As an undergraduate she was selected as an Ozanam Scholar, a competitive program focused on addressing global social justice issues. She is a twice graduate of St. John’s University, completing her MA in museum and cultural administration in 2017. Her graduate research focused on the creation of educational programs for young women of color that promote leadership skills through the engagement of art and literature.

In her spare time, Schaller-Harris volunteers remotely for after school programs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, her hometown. She develops art and culture programs including creating an arts-infused enrichment curriculum focused on legendary African Americans from Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District.

An ever-present focus on cultivating the talents of existing staff has led to new roles for longstanding team members Brondo, Dalene and Madonna. Brondo has been with the Guild Hall team for 12 years, most notably as assistant technical director of the John Drew Theater. Now as director of digital content, his responsibilities include storytelling through media, video production and creating virtual content that will broaden the reach and expand the life of programs through moving image content that tells the story of Guild Hall — past, present and future.

Dalene joined Guild Hall in 2017 as curatorial assistant, registrar, and The Lewis B. Cullman Associate for Museum Education. In her new role as The Lewis B. Cullman Associate Curator for Learning and Public Engagement, she will be working alongside Madonna, who has been promoted to The Patti Kenner Senior Associate for Learning and Public Engagement, helping to give creative agency and form to the artists-in-residence both in the community and internationally, as well as the Guild Hall Teen Arts Council. With Madonna, she will create innovative programming inspired by museum exhibitions, theater programs, and the artist community.

Formerly the Patti Kenner Fellow in Arts Education, Madonna’s new focus as the Patti Kenner Senior Associate for Learning and Public Engagement will be to provide the vision for visitor-centered learning strategies for Guild Hall’s museum and theater, and lead initiatives for community relations, interpretation, art-making, and creative/professional development for students (K-12 schools), professional artists, and general public.