Gain insight to key markets, benefit from scholarly sessions and connect with fellow experts—all while exploring the art, culture and beauty of Houston, Texas.
Presenter Highlights
Elizabeth Essner | Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft | Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Elizabeth Essner is the inaugural Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she oversees the Museum’s modern and contemporary craft collection. She is the organizing curator for the traveling exhibition Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within at the MFAH. Elizabeth’s current projects also include Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger, the first major US museum presentation of the avant-garde Swiss jewelry artist, co-curated with Cindi Strauss (2026), and a major retrospective of the Japanese American fiber artist Kay Sekimachi (2028). Elizabeth holds an M.A. in Design History from the Bard Graduate Center in New York and serves as Board Vice President of the Center for Craft in Asheville, North Carolina.
Peter Held, ASA | Owner | Peter Held Art Appraisals & Associates, LLC
In the course of Peter Held’s impressive three-decade career as a museum director and contemporary art curator, he has organized more than 200 exhibitions, including seven national traveling shows. Held is the author of numerous articles on contemporary art and craft and is the editor of and an essayist for 10 books including In the Language of Silence: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu (2010). Peter is the principal owner of Peter Held Art Appraisals & Associates, based in Arizona. A national personal property firm, he specializes in modern, contemporary art, and studio craft appraisals.
Lark E. Mason | President/CEO | Lark Mason Art Advisory
Lark E. Mason, Jr., President of the Appraiser’s Association of America, 2019-2021, was for nearly twenty-five years a senior officer, generalist, and expert in Chinese works of art with Sotheby’s, New York; and Chairman of Asia Week New York 2016-2017. He is an expert in Chinese art and antiquities, he has appeared on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow since its inception in 1996. He is the author of Asian Art, published in 2003, and translator of Wang Shixiang’s Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture. He serves as a Trustee for The Preservation Society of Newport Country, representing historic Newport’s collections and historic mansions. He is the founder of iGavel Auctions, Lark Mason Associates, and Lark Mason Art Advisory.
Lark Mason, III | Lark Mason Associates
Lark Mason, III oversees marketing and operations with Lark Mason Associates. He specializes in Asian arts and can be seen on Antiques Roadshow appraising a variety of items including a Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, 1000 - 500 B.C.E.; a Chinese Manchu Semi Formal Silk Surcoat; a Japanese Lacquer Tabako-bon, ca. 1900; and more.
Genice Lee, ASA | Owner | Harvest Estate & Appraisal Services Genice Lee, owner of Harvest Estate and Appraisal Services LLC, is a Senior Accredited Appraiser in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where she works as an appraiser, estate consultant and speaker. In ASA she currently sits on the personal property committee board and serves on the diversity, equity and inclusion committee .She has completed appraisals for properties that have been gifted or loaned to institutions such as the The Doleman Black Heritage Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and Howard University.
Melissa Grobmyer | President | MKG Art Management
Born and reared in Houston, Melissa Grobmyer earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with high honors. Before becoming an art advisor, Melissa worked with 9th through 18th-century Decorative art at Sotheby’s in New York. Later she worked with contemporary art at Robert Miller Gallery and 19th century American art at Richard York Gallery, both in New York. Over her career, Melissa has curated collections for Fortune 100 companies as well as for private collectors.
Sarahjane Blum is the Director of Illustration Art at Heritage Auction-- the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer, and the largest for original comic art and illustration art, both in terms of total sales and worldwide records held. She has nearly 20 years of expertise as an art dealer, cultural historian, curator, and writer, and previously co-owned Grapefruit Moon Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Blum is a sought-after speaker, presenting at museums, academic conferences, and national collector events. She co-authored The Art of Pin-Up (Taschen Books, 2014) and has appeared in documentaries exploring Pin-Up Art and Glamour photography.
Deborah Rogal | Director, Photographs Department | Swann Galleries Deborah Rogal joined the Photographs Department at Swann Galleries in 2006, and since 2020 has served as the department's Director. She has presided over numerous sales of private collections of photo books and rare photographs, including the 70th anniversary sale, a celebration of the first photography auction not only at Swann but in the US, works from the estate of Evelyne Z. Daitz, and the Virginia Zabriskie Collection. Deborah works closely with collectors throughout the consignment and buying process, often traveling to visit collections. Her wide-ranging responsibilities also include market analysis, scholarly research, and writing. Deborah has lectured about collecting and is an expert on the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow. She has wide-ranging expertise but holds special interest in Depression-era photography and photo books from all periods.
Darren Winston | Senior VP, Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts | Freeman's | Hindman Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s | Hindman, has served as Head of the Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, and is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club. Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows.
Alasdair Nichol is Deputy Chairman of Freeman's | Hindman. He previously served as Chairman of Freeman's, and he and two colleagues acquired the company in a friendly management buy-out in 2016. He joined Freeman’s in 1999, and as an auctioneer of almost 30 years, has sold many significant collections, including The George D. Horst Collection of Fine Art, The Lehman Brothers Collection, The Collection of Dorrance "Dodo" H. Hamilton, The Stanley Bard Collection: A Life at the Chelsea, and numerous works that set new world auction records. He was instrumental in establishing Freeman’s departmental fine sales and has spearheaded the company’s mission of showcasing single-owner collections.
Carolyn Pastel, AAA, is an independent art consultant and appraiser specializing in 20th and 21st Century Fine and Decorative Art and Founder of Pastel Advisory, LLC. She has twenty years of professional experience in the international art market on both the East and West coasts. After working in the global auction business for over twelve years as Vice President, Head of Sale, 20th Century Decorative Art & Design at Christie’s, New York, she founded Pastel Advisory LLC in San Francisco in 2017. During her tenure at Christie’s, Carolyn contributed to several market-defining record-breaking sales. She is a contributor to Design Miami the Forum and has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Maine Antiques Digest, and was featured in the 2016 documentary, Crazy about Tiffany’s, as a subject matter expert on Louis Comfort Tiffany. Carolyn graduated cum laude from Amherst College and studied Arts Administration at NYU. She is a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliant.
Scott W. Hale, WSET2, ISA, AM | Principal | Southwest Art Appraisals I am a third-generation art historian, appraiser, and advisor, born and raised in the art business. My grandfather was an art dealer and gallery owner, and my mother was a museum curator and credentialed art appraiser. Much of my childhood was spent in galleries, museums, and at art auctions. I grew up in and studied the American Southwest. I graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, and The University of Oklahoma for my master's and doctoral studies, teaching in the English Department, Film and Media Studies Department, and Native American Studies Department. I also lectured in the School of Visual Arts and at many art museums, publishing in books, journals, and magazines. With almost thirty years experience in the art market, I am an IRS-qualified appraiser and an accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA AM), having chaired their Specialty and Advanced Studies Committee (SAS). I am also a contract specialist (Sotheby’s, Heritage, Santa Fe Art Auction, Gurr Johns) and a Chubb Preferred Service Provider.
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