This year we had four openings on the board. Voting was opened to members, and they chose the following four nominees (listed here with their bios from the ballot) to join the board in 2023. 

One board member, Sarah Harrington, is departing our board one year early, so Christine Carpenter will fill her vacancy in 2023 and will have the opportunity to renominate herself for reelection for the 2024-2026 term.

Congratulations our new and returning board members! We look forward to working with you to  better serve the museum and cultural center community across the state.

We also want to send a huge thank you to Sarah Harrington and Sarah Asper-Smith for all they have done to professionalize and grow Museums Alaska over these past five and six years. You have both done amazing work on the board and we will miss you!

2023-2025 Term

Bethany Buckingham Follett (incumbent)

Bethany has been a board member for the past three years. There is still a lot she would like to accomplish for MA members. Museums and cultural centers have assisted communities throughout COVID and current events through learning from the past to impact the present and prepare for the future. Museums Alaska is constantly evolving with its members and board to meet the membership where they are and where they want to be. Meet the changes and challenges together through Museums Alaska and help your board move Alaska forward to support Alaska's communities, visitors and supporters. You are Museums Alaska!

Sarah Owens (incumbent)

Sarah Owens is a conservator with specialist knowledge of basketry, textiles and clothing. She established Interwoven Fibers LLC, an Alaskan based conservation business in 2018. Sarah has been fortunate to travel, providing assistance in conservation, preservation and exhibit preparation services, to various museums and cultural centers in Alaska. Through outreach projects she works with artists to better understand materials. This helps to understand condition issues and preserve objects for future generations. She is passionate about sharing collections care practices to other professionals and also enjoys the challenges of working with exhibit forms as a bridge between conservation needs and respectful presentation of cultures. Sarah wants to continue serving on the board of Museums Alaska, as they help museums and cultural centers around the state. Through working independently Sarah has a unique position to build connections and glean perspective of where this help is most needed.

Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi

Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi is an art historian and museum consultant based in Homer, Alaska. She currently serves as a program director for the Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Art & Culture program at The CIRI Foundation. A Ninilchik Tribal member, Nadia is passionate about increasing opportunities for Alaska Native involvement in museum work and correcting information in museum records. She also loves visiting historical collections of Alaska Native art and helping to connect collections with community. Nadia has a PhD in art history from the University of Washington.

Completing Sarah Harrington's term in 2023 and can be re-elected in 2023 for the 2024-2026 term.

Christine Carpenter

Christine Carpenter is passionate about museums. As a designer, artist, and project manager, Christine uses her skills to work collaboratively with museums to find opportunities and limit challenges. After completing her MFA in Museum Exhibition Planning & Design, she relocated to Juneau to work with ExhibitAK, an exhibit design firm. She still works with ExhibitAK while also maintaining her own company, Liaise Studio: a planning, design, and art firm. Christine uses design and art as a tool to communicate, distill, and better understand the world around us. In collaboration with the communities she serves, she has designed exhibits, websites, interpretive panels, and master plans all over the state. After more than 10 years of working with museums across Alaska, Christine is in a unique position to serve on the Museums Alaska board: she understands the broad needs and opportunities facing Alaskan museums. She would be honored to continue to support museums in this new capacity.