After three years of operating without a director, the Sheldon Museum has finally filled the position. Brandon Wilks, who has degrees in english and history and worked as an education coordinator at the Haines Borough Library, will begin onboarding as the new director on Sept. 5.
Helen Alten was the most recent director of the museum, and had served in her position from 2014 to 2020, when the borough drastically cut funds to the museum as a response to a 50% reduction in sales tax revenue during the pandemic.
In 2021, the museum experienced institutional changes as its staff transitioned from being borough employees to being managed by the museum board of directors. Funding for the museum also shifted to include assembly appropriations.
“What I will say as a board member who’s had to run this museum without a director for three years, we in the board are thrilled to have Brandon on board,” said Lorraine Dudzik, secretary of the museum board.
“It’s been a lot of work. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past three years, but we’re very happy and very relieved to have a director now who can do all those jobs,” said Dudzik.
Over the past three years, museum staff say they have worked tirelessly to fill in for the missing director, overseeing new exhibits, entertaining visitors that come in from the cruise ships, building community connections, and making sure that the building was operating properly and the grounds were well kept.
Burl Sheldon, the business and grants manager, kept the budget balanced, and there were several operations managers who helped out with the education programs while the museum was without a director. Skweit Jessie Morgan was brought on to the team as the newest operational manager last month.
Dudzik said that former directors Jerrie Clark and Cynthia Jones have also been instrumental in directing staff and bringing Wilks up to speed to ensure a smooth transition.
Wilks found out about the director position while working at KHNS, one of his four jobs. Sheldon, who is one of the morning DJs on the radio, told Wilks about the opportunity and Wilks spent a few months turning the idea over in his head.
“One thing I definitely agree with the museum is their mission, the preservation of history for the Chilkat Valley, the people who’ve lived for thousands of years, and those who came later,” said Wilks.
There is a lot of work cut out for Wilks, and he said he will start with familiarizing himself with the day to day operations of the museum. “Some of the first things I’ll be focusing on is just to learn the team, how things are run, how things have run before, what we can do to improve collection security and preservation. And then we’ll just be looking at revamping exhibits,” he said.
“I’ve really grown to love the history of this tiny section of Alaska. There’s some really deep, rich stories here. I want to make sure these stories are being told,” said Wilks.