The Westmoreland Appoints Dr. Erica Nuckles as Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania (March 15, 2021) – The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is excited to announce that Dr. Erica Nuckles will be joining the Museum’s staff as the Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships. She will start in her new role at the beginning of April.

Previously, Nuckles served as the Director of History and Collections at Fort Ligonier where she reimagined and expanded the site’s programming and curated seven new galleries in the museum, and the Braddock’s Battlefield History Center that reopened in 2019 under the stewardship of Fort Ligonier’s senior staff. She has also worked at Crailo State Historic Site in Rensselaer, NY where she helped to develop an exhibit on the Afro-Dutch experience in seventeenth-century New Netherland as part of the 2013 Yale Public History Institute, as well as at the Carlyle House Historic Park in Alexandria, Virginia, the DAR Museum in Washington, DC, and Bushy Run Battlefield in Jeannette, PA.

“I am thrilled and honored to join the dynamic team at The Westmoreland and look forward to contributing to the phenomenal work that they are doing in our community and the museum field,” stated Nuckles.

In regards to the Nuckles appointment, Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO Anne Kraybill commented, “We are impressed by Erica’s exceptional accomplishments at Fort Ligonier and throughout her career, and we look forward to the strong leadership she will bring to our Learning, Engagement and Partnerships endeavors at the Museum.”

Fort Ligonier’s Director Mary Manges said, “Erica is an outstanding museum professional whose curatorial work and program development will significantly benefit Fort Ligonier for many years to come. She will be greatly missed, and we wish her all the best with this exciting new opportunity at The Westmoreland.”

Nuckles grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming, a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the George Washington University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in History from the University at Albany, SUNY.  She and her husband, Drue Spallholz, live in Ligonier where they own and operate The Eastwood Inn and Getaway Café.