Staff
Lissa Ballinger
Executive Director
Lissa Ballinger is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies. Lissa is dedicated to the Center’s educational and curatorial mission to the public, both in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. She manages all aspects of the Center, including collection management and development, exhibition planning, community outreach, and educational programming. Lissa represents the Center in interactions with local, regional, and national communities and leads efforts to partner with other museums and cultural institutions.
Adam Thomas, PhD
Curator
Adam Thomas, PhD is Curator of the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies. He is responsible for organizing and managing all aspects of the Bayer Center’s exhibition program. He represents the Center and the Aspen Institute with national and international communities and leads efforts to partner with other museums and cultural institutions.
Andrew Travers
Penner Manager of Educational Programs
Andrew Travers is the inaugural Penner Manager of Educational Programs at the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies. Based in Aspen, he is responsible for designing, implementing and evaluating the Center’s educational programming and public engagement initiatives.
Sarah Shaw
Communications Manager
Sarah Chase Shaw is the Communications Manager for the Bayer Center. She is responsible for promoting and representing the Center and its mission in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. She manages all communications, and public outreach, including grant writing, marketing materials, donor impact reports, newsletters, web blogs, and social media. She also gives tours of the Center for public and private groups.
Mary Fox
Visitor Services Associate
Mary Fox holds an MBA from the University of Denver and has been in the Roaring Fork Vally for 35 years, raising two daughters and directing human resources and customer care in both the architectural field and animal health care. An avid trekker, Mary has traversed most of the Continental Divide Trail. Closer to home, you can find her hiking or cross-country skiing with her two dogs on most trails in the valley.
Rachel Hansen
Registrar & Collections Management Specialist
New York-based Registrar & Collections Management Specialist Rachel Hansen manages the Institute’s art collection database and art collection and also supports the Bayer Center staff with exhibitions. With an extensive background in illustration, fine art and art history, along with a focus on wooden object preservation, Rachel is a dynamic new member of our team and we look forward to working alongside her when she comes to Aspen to oversee exhibition changeovers.
Ann Mullins
Campus Tours
Landscape architect Ann Mullins has devoted her career to sharing the value of cultural and historic landscapes in our daily lives. As a two-term Aspen City Councilwoman, she advocated for environmentally sound land use, transportation, historic preservation, and energy policies on a local and statewide level.
At the Bayer Center, Ann’s highly engaging free tours of the Aspen Institute Campus offer visitors a deep dive into Herbert Bayer’s influence on the Modern Movement in Aspen.
Manuela Rathey
Visitor Services Associate
With a deep passion for the arts and a gift for languages, Ella brings an international flair to the Bayer Center. A native of Australia, Ella came to the U.S. to pursue diverse opportunities as producer, host, and editor of a daily drive-time arts and entertainment radio and cable TV series in Los Angeles. Later, she returned home to co-produce a national arts and entertainment prime time TV program in Sydney. Having spent half her adult life in the U.S., Ella became a citizen in 2001. She moved to Aspen permanently in 2009.
Rebecca Weiss
Visitor Services Associate
Rebecca Weiss has enjoyed engaging with the public for more than thirty years, specializing in the art of interpreting exhibitions, history, and the natural world. Her background includes a master’s degree in education, tour guide certification by the National Association for Interpretation, and program administration. In addition to working with visitors at the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies, Rebecca also guides birding outings, writes for various freelance outlets, and is author of Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.