Familiar face from Fort Ligonier moving to The Westmoreland
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A familiar face at Fort Ligonier will soon be a familiar face at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Erica Nuckles, the fort’s director of history and collections, will join the Greensburg museum’s staff in April as director of learning, engagement and partnerships.
“I am thrilled and honored to join the dynamic team at The Westmoreland and look forward to contributing to the phenomenal work that they are doing in our community and the museum field,” Nuckles said. “Fort Ligonier has always been part of my life and that will never change.
“I am so proud what our team was able to accomplish during my tenure as director of history and collections, and I am grateful that my new position is at a partner site, so that we may continue working together in the future.”
Often dressed in period clothing, Nuckles gave lectures and demonstrations and participated in the fort’s special events.
“We’re happy for her and sad for us,” said Julie Donovan, Fort Ligonier director of marketing and public relations. “She was active both in developing and leading the programming. When (program participants) arrived, she was there to meet them.
“She really has been a key figure in our educational endeavors,” Donovan added. “This winter, when there was a foot of snow on the ground, Erica and Matt (Gault, director of education) were up in one of the buildings with a fire going, doing a live virtual program for some kids in Utah.
At The Westmoreland, Nuckles will lead the learning, engagement and partnerships team, which will incorporate past education efforts with new focuses on all learning opportunities, partnerships and the evaluative process to broaden the scope of the museum’s educational programming.
During her tenure at the fort, Nuckles re-imagined and expanded the site’s programming and curated seven new galleries in the museum, and the Braddock’s Battlefield History Center that reopened in 2019 under the stewardship of Fort Ligonier’s senior staff.
She also has worked at Crailo State Historic Site in Rensselaer, N.Y., where she helped to develop an exhibit on the Afro-Dutch experience in 17th-century New Netherland as part of the 2013 Yale Public History Institute; and at the Carlyle House Historic Park in Alexandria, Va.; the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C.; and Bushy Run Battlefield in Penn Township.
“We are impressed by Erica’s exceptional accomplishments at Fort Ligonier and throughout her career, and we look forward to the strong leadership she will bring to our Learning, Engagement and Partnerships endeavors at the Museum,” said Anne Kraybill, The Westmoreland’s Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO.
Nuckles and her husband, Drue Spallholz, live in Ligonier, where they own and operate The Eastwood Inn and Getaway Café.
“Erica is an outstanding museum professional whose curatorial work and program development will significantly benefit Fort Ligonier for many years to come,” Fort Ligonier Director Mary Manges said. “She will be greatly missed, and we wish her all the best with this exciting new opportunity at The Westmoreland.”