Greater Westhampton Historical Museum: Introducing Director, Gavin Fontanez | News, Upcoming ….

Meet Gavin Fontanez: Our New Museum Director!

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Thanks to the voters in the Westhampton Beach school district, the Museum just received its first installment of public funding, enabling us to hire Mr. Gavin Fontanez – our Museum Director! Last fall, while the process of finalizing the funding process was underway, the Museum Committee posted job descriptions for Museum Director and Director of Education positions. The Committee interviewed and vetted many interested candidates, but Mr. Fontanez was clearly the first choice. Our offer was made in late January and Gavin started his (and our!) new position at the beginning of February.

Gavin grew up in Manorville and holds degrees in History (BA from Stony Brook University) and Social Studies Education/Teaching (AA from Suffolk County Community College, and MA from Stony Brook University). In addition, he is currently pursuing an MA in Art History and Visual Culture, and an MA in Museum Studies. Gavin’s professional experience includes stints as a substitute teacher in the Middle Country Central School District (Centereach), student teaching at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station and Hampton Bays Middle School, a team leader/supervisor and a collections management intern at the Oysterponds Historic Society in Greenport, an educator at the Long Island Explorium Children’s Museum in Port Jefferson Village, and an intern at the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in Southampton. Gavin’s educational background and prior experiences will be an asset to the Museum!

Our new Director’s responsibilities include optimizing our functions, managing Museum staff, fundraising, administrative oversight of our campus, budgeting, building membership and community visibility, website management, and other tasks commensurate with his skills and experience and our Museum needs. Gavin will be working part-time, but if you stop by the Museum there is a good chance that you will see him in action as we expect that the Museum will be open more frequently and he will likely be involved in expanding our community and school programming.

Our Officers and Committee chairs met with Gavin just before his first day to introduce ourselves, review our functions, and generally acquaint him with how the Museum operates. We were all very pleased with Gavin’s knowledge, enthusiasm, and new ideas for moving forward. We very much appreciate having Gavin Fontanez as our Museum Director to help us continue to grow and mature the Greater Westhampton Historical Museum! 

2025 Winter Lecture Series:

The Greater Westhampton Historical Museum 2025 Events Calendar

The Museum’s preliminary schedule of 2025 events is shown below. While the beginning of the Winter Lecture Series is behind us, there are still two more lectures to go! Moving forward we anticipate a Museum Opening Cocktail Party, a new Museum Exhibit, and a Great Lawn Event. Craft demonstrations and another Art Sale are also on tap. Details of upcoming events will be provided as the year progresses – stay tuned.

March 9th

March 15th
June – TBD Summer
July 19th
July 26th
August 2nd August 9th September 6th December – TBD

Lecture: Local Historic Leaders, Trailblazers, and Celebrities – 1:30 PM at the Westhampton Library. Registration information on page 1.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade – watch for our float! Museum opening

Museum Exhibit
Craft Demonstration
Craft Demonstration
Craft Demonstration
Craft Demonstration
Great Lawn Event – stay tuned for more info! Holiday Party – details to come! 

Excerpts from Winter Newsletter. For more, visit www.whbhistorical.org

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