IRENE ALLEN
Irene Shum Allen is the inaugural Curator and Collections Manager of the Philip Johnson Glass House. Since 2007, she has organized the site’s conservation projects, treating over twenty art objects. Before joining the Glass House, she was a Curatorial Assistant (2004-05) in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, where she organized Groundswell: Constructing the Contemporary Landscape with Curator Peter Reed. Prior to this, she was a Lecturer and Tutor (2003) in the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore. She has also worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1996), New York and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (1994-95). She is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University (1994) and School of Architecture, Yale University (2000).
MERI ERICKSON
A journalist by education, an architect/design by heart and a true “foodie” by first love, Meri Erickson joined the Glass House staff prior to it’s opening to the public in 2007. Since then, she has had a role in many aspects of the museum operations including project management, event coordination, web design and community outreach. Each week, Meri will share the unparalleled beauty and ever-changing landscape found on the 47-acre Glass House site.
CLAIRE HUNTER
“I am a writer and amateur photographer who is passionate about preservation and addicted to top ten lists – my top three: best Glass House experience – meeting Annie Leibovitz; favorite spot – Lewa Conservancy, Kenya; best teacher –my daughter.”
SUSAN MAHONEY
“Bluebirds, wild turkeys and, on occasion, James, Philip Johnson’s keeshond, complement the stunning Glass House property. It’s all about the landscape and, from inside the Glass House, the ever-changing outdoor scenery.” Susan joined the Glass House guide team in 2009. She earned her B.A.in Art History and English, Colgate University and M.A.in Art History, (American painting), University of Wisconsin. Prior to the Glass House she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for over a decade as an Associate Museum Educator and lectured at the National Gallery in London.
MARY KAY JUDY
Mary Kay Judy is the consulting Brick House Restoration Project Coordinator. She is an architectural and cultural heritage conservation consultant with a local and international practice based in Brooklyn, New York. Her career has been marked by a focus on both the documentation of architectural history and technical conservation treatments for long-term, sustainable preservation. Ms. Judy received her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University and her BA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati. Like Philip Johnson, she is also a native of Cleveland, Ohio.
CHRISTIE NICHOLS
Christie got her first glimpse of the Glass House as a child riding in a school bus. She has been fascinated with the idea of living in a house of glass ever since. Her current favorite quote of Philip Johnson’s is ,” the desire of monumentality is as inbred in me as the desire for food and sex.”
GWEN NORTH REISS
Gwen North Reiss’s published work includes articles on modern architecture and preservation, poetry, and a children’s book. She started thinking seriously about modern architecture at a very young age after reading Huck Finn’s description of the room he was hiding in as being full of “all sorts of knickknacks and gimcracks like girls brisken up a room with.”
EMILY LEIBIN
Emily Leibin is a fellow at the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, CT. In May of 2010 she graduated from the School of Visual Arts’ M.F.A. Design Criticism program where she wrote her thesis on modern architecture in the Northeast, inspired by her experiences growing up in Connecticut. Emily recieved her undergraduate degree from the Pratt Institute Industrial Design program in 2004.
