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Production

Cliff Athorn - Director of Exhibit Production

Cliff has a B.A. in psychology and two graduate degrees in music theory and conducting. This has helped him orchestrate the day-to-day operations of our exhibit production departments, including staffing, scheduling, shop management and personnel. Cliff keeps a staff of 40+ uniquely talented individuals happy and productive—one might even say, harmonized.

Cliff has a background in management of stage and scenic fabrication. He served as production director for the Minnesota Opera Company for over 15 years, then left to establish and operate Twin Cities Scenic Studios, Inc.

Cliff is married to a middle school English teacher, and claims "our youngest child's a golden retriever."

Mark Anderson - Project Production Manager

Mark studied music and classics at Luther College, and found work as a scenic carpenter for major opera and theater companies, focusing on millwork, rigging, and automation. He then joined the Science Museum as an exhibit fabricator. Mark says, "Like the theater, the museum offered me the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind pieces, but at a more sensible pace and higher degree of finish."

As a fabricator, Mark has worked on such diverse projects as the traveling version of Invention at Play; the Big Back Yard; Explore Evolution; Wild Music; and Water: H2O = Life. As production manager, he has recently led the charge on the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) projects.

When not working at the museum, Mark spends some of his time singing. Currently, he sings in a 10-voice a cappella chamber group that performs benefit concerts for various non-profits in the Twin Cities area.

Daniel Dahm - Project Production Manager

Daniel comes to us with a solid background in production. Holding a BA in Theater from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, he worked for 10 years with the Guthrie Theater building scenery. He spent another six years building clean room enclosures and exhibitions with Design Station Technologies, before finally joining the Science Museum in 2003. He has worked on such exhibits as Fossil Mysteries; Water: H2O = Life; and Future Earth.

Daniel lists the San Diego Natural History Museum as one of his favorites, "partly because of its location, mostly because of the people who work there."

Lucinda Frantz - Project Production Manager

Lucinda's employment at the Science Museum was the result of a terrible misunderstanding. "[When] I interviewed in 1991," she says, "I thought the shop foreman said I'd be helping to create Antartica. Turns out I was helping to crate Antartica, but I took the job anyhow and worked my way up from there." Despite the rough start, Lucinda has gone on to use her woodworking, welding, and machining skills on many exhibits, including Hunters of the Sky; Human Body Gallery; Cell Lab; Disease Detectives and many small exhibits-for-sale projects. Lucinda says she fully embraces the line in her job description which covers "other duties as assigned."

Earning a BA in Theater and Psychology from Valparaiso University, Lucinda worked as a technician, set builder and stage manager for several theaters and traveling shows; a social worker and psychiatric technician; and a home repair handyperson.

When asked about her favorite museums, Lucinda extolled the virtues of thinking small. "I love little museums that I've found where I least expect them; they are almost always someone's labor of love. Just down the block from the very crowded Accademia in Florence, Italy (where Michelangelo's David is the star exhibit), is a little museum dedicated to the art of stonework and stone workers: Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure. It's delightful."

Ethan Lebovics - Warehouse Manager / Special Exhibits Installations Manager

After earning a BA in Studio Arts from Macalaster College, Ethan came to the Science Museum as a fabricator on Hunters of the Sky. He became Tour Manager, installing the show in museums across the country. Ethan has also worked on the exhibits Traveling Experiment Gallery and If These Walls Could Talk (now known as Raise the Roof). In 1998 he assumed the role of warehouse manager for the museum's 19,000-sq. ft. off-site storage facility. He's responsible for daily operations at the warehouse, including space, security, inventory, equipment and supplies.

Since 2003 Ethan has been the Project Production Manager for the Special Exhibits. He has managed the installation of incoming temporary shows including, Chinasaurs: Dinosaur Dynasty; Animal Grossology; Crime Scene Insects; Body Worlds; Invention at Play; Deadly Medicine; A Day in Pompeii; Animation; and Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.

Ethan has also been assuming the role of exhibit photographer. His training in photography, plus his proximity to the exhibit installation process, has proven a benefit for his institution's Marketing and Public Relations Department, as well as the Exhibits Division.

When asked to name a favorite museum, Ethan waxes effusive on the House on the Rock. "This unique collection of antiquities, autonomous musical instruments, anatomically incorrect sea creatures, and vast motorized carousels defy explanation. A trip to the House on the Rock is unlike any other visitor experience; it's more like stepping into someone's dream-world. This attraction is a visual feast and certainly brings to focus questions as to what makes a museum a museum."

Dan Miller - Project Production Manager

Dan is project production manager for several of the Science Museum's traveling exhibits. His projects have included Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science; Water: H2O = Life; Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear; the award-winning RACE: Are We So Different?; Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination; Playing With Time, When Crocodiles Ruled and Raise the Roof. He has also worked on permanent exhibits such as the Dinosaurs and Fossils Gallery and World of Ecology.

Dan holds a BES from St. Cloud State University. Prior to joining the Science Museum, Dan spent six years at the Minnesota Historical Society as a project specialist, producing several exhibits for the new Minnesota History Center, the new Mille Lacs Indian Museum and other historic sites throughout Minnesota.

Dan cites the Mille Lacs Indian Museum, which opened in 1996, as one of his favorites. "[It is] serving as a resource for its community and all of us that want to know more about the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I am proud to have had a significant role helping to make this happen."

Tim Motzko - Graphic Production Manager

Tim has produced the graphics for all of the exhibits that the Science Museum has produced since 2005. This has included work for clients as diverse as the San Diego Museum of Natural History, Liberty Science Center New Jersey, California Science Center, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Minnesota Historical Society, National Science Foundation and NASA.

Prior to coming on board at the Museum, Tim was Graphics Manager at Pictura, a tradeshow and exhibit graphics company. Tim played a key role in transitioning this small Minneapolis photolab into one of the top digital graphics companies in the nation.

Tim lists the Walker Art Center as one of his favorite museums. "I love their choices in art," he says, "and it is one of the best in the country."

Dion O'Keefe - Project Production Manager

Dion has versatile skills, and handles a lot of our drafting and welding. He holds a BA from the University of Minnesota in Technical Theater; a certificate in Architectural / Structural Drafting from the Minneapolis Drafting School; and has taken courses in AutoCAD and TIG welding at St. Paul Tech / Community College.

At the Science Museum, he has worked on such exhibits as World of Ecology and Fossil Mysteries. Before coming to us, he was Head Rigger and Assistant Technical Director at the Guthrie Theater. As an independent contractor, he has done work for Cirque du Soleil, the NFL Super Bowl, and the U of M School of Architecture. Dion has also found time to volunteer as Project Manager on three Habitat for Humanity projects.

Outside of the Science Museum, Dion lists the Canadian National Aviation Museum, Ottawa as his favorite, noting its "beautiful facility with incredible samples of all phases of aviation history."

Randall Smith - Traveling Exhibits Technical Manager

Randall is tour manager of our Traveling Exhibits program, coordinating all logistics related to installation, transportation, and de-installation of the exhibits, training of venue museum staff and maintenance of the exhibits. When not installing traveling exhibits, Randall coordinates front-end planning for new traveling shows. Before coming to the Science Museum, Randall earned a BA at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, and spent 20 years running a cabinet shop.

Randall cites the Smithsonian as his favorite museum. "They are the keepers of our nation's history," he notes, "and they have everything."

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