With all the weekly, bustling activity at the Georgia Museum of Art, ranging from hosting successful events to housing exhibitions that visitors love and appreciate, there is careful, behind-the-scenes preparation and planning that should not go unacknowledged. The museum’s staff put in countless hours and unwavering dedication to make the museum’s well-oiled machine run effortlessly, and our new security supervisor LeAnne Hilliard has emerged as one of the many people who will help ensure everyone’s museum experience is one for the ages.
LeAnne Hilliard was born and raised in a small, quaint town in southern Georgia called Adel with a population of approximately 5,298 people. Though very fond of her town, Hilliard desired new opportunities, thus she attended Piedmont College in Demorest located in Northern Georgia. At Piedmont, she earned her bachelor’s degree in art theory with a minor in women’s studies. After graduation, she decided to settle down in Athens, Georgia where she served for two years as a full-time security guard, and gallery guide and worked on-call for a few months.
Hilliard is no stranger to museums, as she worked for the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art in Demorest during her college years. She says she absolutely loved the atmosphere there. However, the size of one of the galleries in the Georgia Museum of Art is roughly the size of the entire museum back home in Demorest. Despite some of the similarities the two museums share, Hilliard appreciates the stark differences in both the atmosphere and environment.
When one thinks about security and what the duties would entail, it is only natural to assume guards are only responsible for preventing security breaches and to keep others safe, but Hilliard notes that her job is so much more than that. She explains that her job also includes managing all of the closed-door, building operations as well as upholding policies and procedures to protect the safety of the museum’s works of art, guests and personnel. It also includes ensuring the equipment is running. “I just really love being so involved in the process of making the Georgia Museum of Art a comfortable and safe place to be,” she states. Hilliard’s passion for this job also stems from a desire to work with the dedicated and diligent museum staff who may not always be considered when thinking about the operations of the museum and what makes it so successful.
Hilliard’s experience with museums, her dedication and excitement for museum culture, especially at the Georgia Museum of Art, make her a fantastic addition to the security staff. There is no doubt having Hilliard as a new security supervisor will benefit the museum’s trajectory.
By Aramide Amusat
