Background
The USFFM was founded in 1989 as the US.member of the WORLD FEDERATION OF FRIENDS OF MUSEUMS (WFFM), and participates actively in annual WFFM Council Meetings, Regional Meetings and in the Triennial Congresses.
The term FRIENDS refers to all volunteer museum groups such as donors, trustees, docents, women's committees and others.
The USFFM is a non-profit organization supported entirely by dues and private contributions.
Purpose
To encourage volunteer efforts for museums to facilitate an exchange of information among FRIENDS organizations, both nationally and internationally.
Goals
- To promote communication and reciprocity among U.S. FRIENDS groups and FRIENDS groups from the many nations in the WFFM.
- To encourage the formation of new associations of museum FRIENDS.
- To act as a bridge between community interests and museum professionals.
- To support and encourage small museums.
- To encourage the formation of young FRIENDS groups and to assist them in every possible way.
- To disseminate information through newsletters, lectures, conferences, and special events.
- To raise funds to support the projects of the USFFM and WFFM.
Board Members
Julia Pool, President
Julia King Pool serves as president of the USFFM. Julia joined USFFM for the General Assembly in Washington, DC as the Young Friends Representative. She has been an educator in the public school system for over a decade and committed to improving access to and enjoyment of young, future museum patrons. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a Master in Applied Positive Psychology, Julia is focused on continuing the legacy of US leadership within the WFFM with a focus on increasing well-being through the arts.
Enid Hyde
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Laura Blanco
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Pamela Peabody
Pam has worked closely with the Corcoran Gallery of Art for many years. She is a documentary filmmaker of longstanding. She is President of PRP Productions, whose recent films have included, Robert Rauchenberg: Inventive Genius and Edith Wharton: The Sense of Harmony.
Lee Peterson
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Nancy Grinnell Barnum
Nancy Grinnell Barnum, the wife of John Barnum was born in New York City and graduated Smith College in 1954. She worked as a docent at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. for twenty years. Mrs Barnum also served as chairman of the Washington Performing Arts Society. She also worked as an independent art consultant until she and her husband moved to Brussels, Belgium in 1994. Mrs Barnum and husband, co-founded WEILS, one of the first dedicated contemporary art venues in Brussels. While in Brussels, Mrs Barnum was an active member of Femme d'Europe, an international women's organization supported by the European Union.
Murray Tarnapoll
Murray R. Tarnapoll is a past President of the USFFM. He has been a Trustee of the USFFM since 2002. Murray is also a Trustee and past President of the Queens Museum of Art, where he has been a Board Member for over 30 years, a Board Member and Treasurer of the Museum Trustee Association, and former Trustee of the Queens Botanical Garden. He is the founder and President of ATS Mechanical Contractors, Inc. in NYC and he partners in both Atlantik Import and Export Corps. and RCG Longview Debt Fund, LLC. Murray is also a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York, and the Queens Traffic Safety Board. Previous to his professional life, Murray studied engineering at CCNY, served in the U.S. Army, and then obtained a BFA degree from Brooklyn College.
Susannah T. Saunders
Susie has a Ph.D. in art history from Bryn Mawr College and has been teaching at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. She has also been active with the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Wilmington Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Betty Zucker
A native of Long Beach, California and a graduate of USC, Betty has been active in the American Association of Museum Volunteers (AAMV) as Western Regional Director, Director at Large, Secretary of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Advisory Committee. She has long been on the Board of Directors of Museum Service Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is also an exhibiting artist.
John Barnum, Previous Past President
John Barnum was born in New York City in 1928 and worked from 1957 to 1971 at the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he became a partner. He moved to Washington, DC in 1971 and served as general counsel and later as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation. His work at DOT included deregulation of the airline and railroad industries and oversight of the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Barnum was instrumental in converting several bankrupt railroads into the freight carrier known as Conrail.
Following his work in government and a year at the American Enterprise Institute, Mr. Barnum worked as a partner in the Washington office of White & Case from 1978 to 1994. He then moved to Brussels, where he represented the government of Kazakhstan in matters of international arbitration. He returned to Washington in 2011 and retired two years later. Mr. Barnum served on the boards of Amtrak, the National Defense Transportation Association, the American Arbitration Association, Arena Stage and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He was also president of the U.S. Federation of Friends of Museums.