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!
Anna Fredrick
Anna joined the PlayHouse in August 2017 as the Monticello College Foundation Education Intern. She has worked for Bradley University and various non-profit organizations, including the Peoria Art Guild and Project 1612, and has a background in design, education and fine art. Anna holds a BA in Fine Arts from Bradley University with a concentration in graphic design.
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 recently accepted a volunteer position as Picture Person at their school in Morton; she hopes to bring to the school what she has learned about open-ended learning from her continued experience at the museum.
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.