An art historian, she holds a B.A. from Yale, an M.A. from the Courtauld Institute of the University of London, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked at museums and historic sites since 1985, including as a curator at Monticello for thirteen years, and as the Betsy Main Babcock Director of the Curatorial and Education Division at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, N.C. She has taught art history at the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, James Madison University, Wake Forest University, and Davidson College and published and lectured widely on ways that art and architectural patronage relate to gender, race, and family politics.

Jenniffer Powers joined Montpelier in May 2014, after completing her degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Mary Washington. As the Collections Manager, Jenniffer works behind the scenes and beyond the ropes to provide care and maintenance for the entirety of the Montpelier Collections – both on display and off display. This includes everything from proper storage to vacuuming textiles, to cleaning silver and sweeping floorcloth! Jenniffer is passionate about making collections and collections management accessible to the public and loves using the Collections Department Instagram account to highlight pieces of the collections both on and off display as well as the work that it takes to preserve the objects and spaces for decades to come!

Alexis Atkinson joined the Montpelier team in November of 2022. She earned her B.A. in Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University in May of 2022, and her A.A. in Liberal Arts, and Certificate in Fine Arts at John Tyler Community College in May of 2020. Alexis has a background in collections care and art history. In particular, she is knowledgeable about paintings and the decorative arts of 18th to 19th century America and France. At Montpelier, she works to maintain and preserve the decorative arts collections on display throughout the property. She also assists the Collections Manager with research, collections projects, and the collections’ social media accounts. Alexis is passionate about the histories which objects can share, their visual presentation to the public, and their overall preservation.

Leanna Schafer earned her BA in Art History at Salem State University. Her background includes fine arts and material culture preventative care and American History. Leanna joined the Collections Department at Montpelier in 2018 where she safe-keeps collections objects and their exhibit spaces, orchestrates object conservation, assists in exhibit design, and creates educational content for the public and staff members through Montpelier’s Digital Doorway.

Leanna has since moved into the Communications Department at Montpelier, in late 2022.