Blyth McManus

I welcome opportunities to support my community through my collaborative, positive approach and to utilize my broad skills in organization, communication, recordkeeping, museum practices, and art history.

Through my work as Archival Assistant in the Special Collections and Archives department at George Mason University, I am familiar with organizational methods and database management relating to archival work. In addition, while serving as an intern with the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD, I assisted with an IMLS grant-funded inventory of the museum’s collection of over 7000 pieces. The more than 300 hours I dedicated to the WCMFA not only provided me with a wide base of applied knowledge, but also gave me time to foster supportive professional relationships with my many knowledgeable coworkers.

While earning my BA in Art History, I worked in a variety of retail and skilled service professions, serving the public in a broad range of contexts. Appreciation of, and respect for, diversity is an integral part of the skillset I offer. During the 2012/2013 academic year, I served as a Teaching Assistant at George Mason University, assisting students who had widely varying levels of English speaking ability, who hailed from highly varied cultures, and who came from a broad range of educational and economic backgrounds.

After returning in 2012 to my native Maryland from an absence of over fifteen years, I actively sought out a way to serve my local community again. My current volunteer position as Fundraising Chair for the Friends of Tolson’s Chapel, an African-American schoolhouse and church in Sharpsburg, MD, not only gives me a connection to the local cultural community but also enables me to make connections with others who are effecting positive change in the area.