James H. Bert
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Jim Bert is the Executive Director of the Hotel de Paris Museum, in Georgetown, Colorado. Mr. Bert is originally from Kansas City, Kansas, where he received his education through high school. He attended Kansas State Teachers College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in American History. Returning to Emporia State University after active duty, he earned a Master of Science degree in American History. In May 1993, Mr. Bert completed his Master of Arts degree in Museum Studies at the University of Nebraska.

His military experience includes eight years of regular and active reserve service as an infantry officer with the United States Marine Corps.  Mr. Bert taught at the junior high school level for four years and thereafter served as building principal for six years. He earned a Kansas Superintendent’s certification and still holds a lifetime teaching certificate in Missouri.

Mr. Bert was the founding Director (1987) for the Liberal Air Museum, Liberal, Kansas.  From 1991-1997, Mr. Bert served as the Executive Director for the Strategic Air Command Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Bert served as Executive Director of the Cuneo Museum and Gardens, Vernon Hills, Illinois. He served as the Executive Director for the DeKalb Genetics Foundation, researching the possibility of a new agricultural museum through 2005. Mr. Bert is presently the Executive Director of the Hotel de Paris Museum, in Georgetown, Colorado. He also serves as a board member with the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum project. For the past 14 years he has evaluated IMLS GOS/MFA grants and served as an IMLS site assessor for the MAP I and III programs.

Mr. Bert has an established track record of success in all areas of museum, historic property, and heritage garden operations. Creative and resourceful in building new earned income sources, writing successful grants, as well as creating programs or expanding existing programs. He is experienced in maximizing the cultural and economic impact of museums. Mr. Bert possesses exceptional strength in initiating structure and introducing professional museum standards to operations.

Conny G. Bogaard
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Museum curator, teacher and art historian with 17 + years of working experience in the Netherlands and the United States. Ms. Bogaard studied art history and museum studies at the University of Utrecht and Leiden (NL) and was Curator for Sypesteyn Castle, Loosdrecht for 13 years before coming to the United States. Ms Bogaard is the Curator for the Hotel de Paris Museum in Georgetown, CO. Among her various publications the most recent one is Huismusea in Nederland [Housemuseums in The Netherlands] 2007, which is the result of an awarded winning research project focusing on collectors homes in The Netherlands. Her teaching experience includes teaching courses in art history at the University of Colorado in Fort Collins, CO and the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design in Lakewood, CO, as well as teaching Exhibiting the Art Object at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO.

Strengths:

• Expertise in all aspects of collections management
• Expertise in historic preservation and interpretation
• Expertise in exhibit organization and implementation
• Fluent in English, Dutch, German, and French

Professional Experience:

Curator of DEKALB Genetics Foundation in Sycamore, IL, as part of a 1-year project on the founding of a new agricultural museum, 2005. Main responsibilities: the creation of a Collections Plan, the set up of an Oral History Program as well as maintaining the collections computerized database system (PastPerfect).

Two times Executive Director (ad interim) at Sypesteyn Castle, Loosdrecht (NL), 1992-1993 and 2004-2005.

Curator at Sypesteyn Castle, Loosdrecht (NL), 1992-2005. 
Responsibilities/accomplishments: the creation of a Collection Plan; the implementation of a new documentation system comprising ca. 11,000 objects; initiating and supervising several major conservation and restoration projects; developing and supervising new education programs and exhibits; grant writing; research; training of volunteers and docents; marketing and public relations; acquisition and cataloguing of museum objects.
 
Junior Museum Curator at Sypesteyn Castle, Loosdrecht (NL), 1989-1992.

Education/ Formal Training:

1989    MA in Art History & Archeology at University of Utrecht (NL)
1989    Museum Studies at University of Leiden (NL)
1994    Archives, Library and Documentation Studies in The Hague (NL)

Professional Affiliation:

Member of ICOM’S International Committee of Historic House Museums (DemHist)

Individual Members: