Meet the staff
Rebecca Shulman Herz
Rebecca moved to Peoria in 2013. For nearly 25 years prior to that she lived in New York City, and worked in the Education Departments of art museums, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Noguchi Museum. She is the author of the book Looking at Art in the Classroom and writes the blog Museum Questions.
Kristin Vannatta
Kristin has 9 years of experience working in art museums, including the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of Illinois at Chicago and certifications in Human Resources from PDRMA and in Business from Loyola University.
Courtney Baxter
Courtney graduated with her MA in Public History in 2014 from Loyola University Chicago. She has experience working at various museums including Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, and Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Her interests and experiences are in museum education and museum audience diversity.
adrienne huffman
Family & Public Programs Educator
Adrienne holds a BA in Art History and Anthropology from Beloit College and an MA in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University. She has worked at the Field Museum, the Walker Art Center, the Seaport Museum, and A Child’s View Cooperative Preschool in Normal, to name a few. She loves playing, making, and building with kids of all ages, and has two kids of her own!
Tessa Martinez
Tessa joined the PlayHouse in August 2018 as the Monticello Education Intern. She graduated with her MFA in Ceramics in 2018 from West Virginia University. She loves to travel and has visited museums and galleries in China, Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria. She is excited to see how Peoria will influence the work that she will create during her upcoming residency at the Prairie Center of the Arts.
Tiffanie McNeese
Tiffanie has a degree in Graphic Design, as well as a background in Fine Arts. She enjoys volunteering at her children’s school and at a local animal rescue. She loves to travel and be inspired by the environment around her and apply that inspiration to her watercolor, photography, and graphic design.
Wendy Ferguson
Wendy earned her MS in Environmental Studies from Green Mountain College in December of 2017. Her interests lie in building and understanding connections between individuals and the more than human world in order to build more resilient communities.
Krislyn Hightower
Krislyn graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photograpy from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008, and is working on her Associates in Graphic Communications from ICC. She enjoys reading, drawing, writing, listening to podcasts and movies, especially horror.
Dori Beaupre
Crystel Otto
Operations Assistant
Dori graduated from ICC in 2012 with an Associate’s degree in Arts & Sciences for psychology. Before joining the PlayHouse, Dori worked in multiple development roles at Children’s Home, and has over 7 years of customer service experience. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her three rambunctious boys.
Crystel Otto is from DeKalb IL and graduated from McKendree University with a BA in Business Administration with a focus in Management. She is an US Air Force Veteran who served as an F-15 Crew Chief and a Database Analyst. She is the Cheer Director for the Washington Junior Football League and a mother of 3.