Geppi’s Entertainment Museum Announces Hiring of Executive Director
Diamond President and CEO Steve Geppi has announced the appointment of
Wendy Kelman, former Manager of Sales and Marketing for the State of
Maryland's Office of Tourism, as the Executive Director of Geppi's
Entertainment Museum at Camden Yards (GEM).
Kelman will report to Diamond International Galleries President John K. Snyder, Jr., and is scheduled to officially join GEM in early September.
"I am pleased that Wendy has agreed to be GEM's Executive Director," said Geppi. "With her almost two decades of experience in the travel and tourism industries, people from all over the world will learn about GEM and know exactly where to come to enjoy our museum's very unique pop culture experience."
"For the past 19 years I have been in the business of connecting visitors with places to visit," said Kelman. "I am looking forward to the challenge of creating another reason for people from all over the world to want to come and visit Baltimore, MD. This very distinctive museum will offer a fantastic collection of artifacts that relate to virtually everyone. This is the super museum that just happens to include super-heroes."
"Wendy Kelman is a highly accomplished travel industry veteran," said National Tour Association (NTA) President Hank Phillips. "Her successful tenure with the Maryland Office of Tourism has been marked by a strong intellect, exceptional marketing abilities and broad knowledge, and ever-increasing contacts throughout the global travel industry. Acknowledgement by one's peers is arguably the highest form of commendation one can receive. In 2004, Wendy received that acknowledgement when the Destination Marketing Organization membership of the National Tour Association elected her to NTA's Board of Directors. In that role, Wendy has demonstrated keen insights and strong leadership that have greatly benefited the board and NTA overall."
Geppi's Entertainment Museum at Camden Yards will spotlight the role of entertainment in the mainstream culture over the past 130 years. The new, 16,000-square-foot museum will be situated on the second and third floors of Baltimore's historic Camden Station, located adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and just upstairs from the newly opened Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum. Expected to open next year, GEM will focus on the impact of popular culture on society as a whole by showcasing the important developments in the various fields of entertainment, particularly how they have impacted children. The museum will be developed from Geppi's extensive personal collection, which spans the range of vintage collectibles. It includes rare toys, comic books, animation cels, movie posters, oil paintings and many other pop culture collectibles.
Beginning with Puck, Judge and St. Nicholas, among the earliest American magazines to regularly use comics illustrations, and developing through the Roaring Twenties and birth of radio, the growth of movies, and then eventually television, as well as the influences of advertising and transportation, the new facility will take participants on a guided tour through history with a special nod to the role of comics characters.
Covering each segment with a special room or exhibit, the museum will detail the momentous impact of comics characters on the children who connected with them. Chronicling the earliest comics characters through the highly recognized creations of recent years, the facility's different segments will immerse visitors in its unique American experience.
The development and use of licensed characters, the connection with the products on which those characters appeared, and the ways in which they have been marketed will be showcased by the new facility, as well.
"For years I've dreamed about being able to do something like this," added Geppi. "Not only for the people of the city of Baltimore, which I love, and the industry that's been so good to me, but for the incredible forms of entertainment, which I also adore. I think it's important that this material not only be preserved for future generations, but that it should be highlighted for them."
Kelman will report to Diamond International Galleries President John K. Snyder, Jr., and is scheduled to officially join GEM in early September.
"I am pleased that Wendy has agreed to be GEM's Executive Director," said Geppi. "With her almost two decades of experience in the travel and tourism industries, people from all over the world will learn about GEM and know exactly where to come to enjoy our museum's very unique pop culture experience."
"For the past 19 years I have been in the business of connecting visitors with places to visit," said Kelman. "I am looking forward to the challenge of creating another reason for people from all over the world to want to come and visit Baltimore, MD. This very distinctive museum will offer a fantastic collection of artifacts that relate to virtually everyone. This is the super museum that just happens to include super-heroes."
"Wendy Kelman is a highly accomplished travel industry veteran," said National Tour Association (NTA) President Hank Phillips. "Her successful tenure with the Maryland Office of Tourism has been marked by a strong intellect, exceptional marketing abilities and broad knowledge, and ever-increasing contacts throughout the global travel industry. Acknowledgement by one's peers is arguably the highest form of commendation one can receive. In 2004, Wendy received that acknowledgement when the Destination Marketing Organization membership of the National Tour Association elected her to NTA's Board of Directors. In that role, Wendy has demonstrated keen insights and strong leadership that have greatly benefited the board and NTA overall."
Geppi's Entertainment Museum at Camden Yards will spotlight the role of entertainment in the mainstream culture over the past 130 years. The new, 16,000-square-foot museum will be situated on the second and third floors of Baltimore's historic Camden Station, located adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and just upstairs from the newly opened Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum. Expected to open next year, GEM will focus on the impact of popular culture on society as a whole by showcasing the important developments in the various fields of entertainment, particularly how they have impacted children. The museum will be developed from Geppi's extensive personal collection, which spans the range of vintage collectibles. It includes rare toys, comic books, animation cels, movie posters, oil paintings and many other pop culture collectibles.
Beginning with Puck, Judge and St. Nicholas, among the earliest American magazines to regularly use comics illustrations, and developing through the Roaring Twenties and birth of radio, the growth of movies, and then eventually television, as well as the influences of advertising and transportation, the new facility will take participants on a guided tour through history with a special nod to the role of comics characters.
Covering each segment with a special room or exhibit, the museum will detail the momentous impact of comics characters on the children who connected with them. Chronicling the earliest comics characters through the highly recognized creations of recent years, the facility's different segments will immerse visitors in its unique American experience.
The development and use of licensed characters, the connection with the products on which those characters appeared, and the ways in which they have been marketed will be showcased by the new facility, as well.
"For years I've dreamed about being able to do something like this," added Geppi. "Not only for the people of the city of Baltimore, which I love, and the industry that's been so good to me, but for the incredible forms of entertainment, which I also adore. I think it's important that this material not only be preserved for future generations, but that it should be highlighted for them."
