League of NH Craftsmen Gets New Leader

The League of NH Craftsmen’s Board of Trustees has announced that Jane Oneail is the new executive director of the League of NH Craftsmen starting June 1, 2015, according to a press statement.

Oneail succeeds Susie Lowe-Stockwell who will retire on June 26.

Alice Veenstra, president of the Board of Trustees and a member of the League’s Search Committee said, “Jane was a clear choice for the executive director position because of her great appreciation of fine craft, extensive arts education background, and an eagerness for working with the community of craftspeople and craft enthusiasts throughout the state.”

Oneail comes to the League from the Currier Museum of Art, where she served as the senior educator since 2009. As an intellectual leader for museum collections and the museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Zimmerman House, she organized and trained the docent corps of 80 volunteers. She also helped create educational programs for members and donors, and was actively involved in promoting the museum. In 2014 she founded a Young Friends group and she regularly represented the museum in the community and in local and regional media.

In her role as executive director of the League, Oneail will continue to broaden the organization’s reach and carry out its mission to encourage, nurture and promote the creation, use and preservation of craft.

“It’s a joy and an honor to be working for one ofoldest and most recognized craft organizations in the country,” she said. “I am impressed with the dedication and passion of the League’s Board, staff, members, and volunteers that I have met. I am looking forward to working with them to meet our common goals of continued engagement and sustainability.”

A Manchester native, Oneail holds a Master in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Master in Art History from Boston University. She has worked at several New England museums, including the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London (CT) and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. She has also taught Art History and Museum Education at Connecticut College, Emmanuel College, and, most recently, the New Hampshire Institute of Art. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the Leadership Program through the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the boards Girls at Work, Inc. and the New Hampshire Art Educators’ Association.

For more information about the League of NH Craftsmen, call 603-224-3375, email nhleague@nhcrafts.org, or visit the League’s website at nhcrafts.org.