MKG Art Management Staff
MKG Art Management’s consultants have earned
advanced degrees in art history and arts administration and bring an
academic perspective into the process of building art collections. Before
joining MKG Art Management, our consultants have acquired varied experiences
in the art world: in academia, museums, non-profit organizations, galleries,
auction houses, and other consulting companies.
MKG Art Management has the largest art advisory staff in the city of
Houston. MKG’s depth of talent makes MKG Art Management well suited
to handle the largest and most complex projects. In addition, MKG Art
Management is uniquely equipped to provide clients with certified fine
art appraisals with members of the International Society of Appraisers
on staff.
Melissa Kepke Grobmyer, M.A.
Founding Partner, President
Melissa Kepke Grobmyer earned
her Bachelor of Arts and her Master of Arts degrees at the University
of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with high honors. Before becoming
an art advisor, Mrs. Grobmyer 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.
After returning to Houston, Mrs. Grobmyer was Senior Associate at an
art-advising firm for three and one half years, where she edited American
Images: The SBC Collection of Twentieth-Century American Art, published
by Abrams in 1996.
In 1998, Mrs. Grobmyer founded MKG Art Management, the only art advisory
and appraisal firm in Houston. Through her career as an art advisor,
Mrs. Grobmyer has assembled collections focused on topics such as American
photography, Contemporary art, African-American art, Latino-American
art, Asian-American art, and Texas Regionalism. Mrs. Grobmyer has also
taught classes on various aspects of the history of art and architecture,
most notably on Gulf Coast Vernacular architecture for the Rice University
School of Continuing Studies. She has also researched, assembled and
administrated collections of Modernism, Abstract Expressionism, and
19th century Realism and Impressionism. Mrs. Grobmyer currently serves
on the Modern and Contemporary Acquisitions subcommittee of the Museum
of Fine Arts, Houston, and is an emeritus board member of Lawndale Art
Center. She is a member of ArTTable, and the International Association
of Professional Art Advisors.
Cecily E. Horton, M.A., I.S.A.
Partner
Cecily Earhart Horton joined MKG Art Management in 1999, bringing an
expertise in both fine and decorative arts. Trained initially at the
Inchbold School of Design in London, England, Ms. Horton received her
Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Wellesley College and her
Master of Arts degree and Master of Philosophy degree in the History
of Art from Yale University. Ms. Horton directed sales of contemporary
art at Hiram Butler Gallery and, later, prints and drawings at Moody
Gallery, both of Houston. Ms. Horton has been a member of the International
Society of Appraisers since 2000, specializing in fine art. Ms. Horton
is a past trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2001-07), serving
on the Accessions committee. She currently serves on the Davis Museum
Advisory Council at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, and chairs the
University of Houston school of Art Partners committee. Ms. Horton also
serves of the board of Art Lies, a quarterly publication dedicated to
contemporary art in Texas.
Tabitha Caldwell Doby, M.A., I.S.A.
Partner
Tabitha Caldwell Doby received her Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Museum
Studies/Museum Exhibition Planning and Design from the Philadelphia
College of Art and Design at The University of the Arts. Before joining
MKG in 2004, Ms. Doby has worked with such venues as the Library of
Congress, The Barnes Foundation of Merrion, Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia
Arts Alliance, and The Academy of Natural Sciences. Her experience includes
conceptualization, research, organization, design, and production of
exhibits and educational presentations, utilizing a variety of techniques
and media.
After joining MKG, Ms. Doby obtained her appraisers certification
from the University of Maryland. In addition to major private collections,
Ms. Doby has managed and completed large scale appraisal projects for
Torch Energy Advisors, the Holocaust Museum Houston, and The University
of Texas System in Austin.
Janet McDonald Hobby
Partner
Janet McDonald Hobby received her Bachelor of Business Administration
degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She later went on to
create the streaming video fashion website, Virtual Runway, featured
in Women’s Wear Daily and Harpers Bazaar. Mrs. Hobby and her partner
ultimately sold to Los Angeles based Real TV in 2003.
Before joining MKG, Mrs. Hobby chaired the Hobby
Center for the Performing Arts’ Visual Art Committee. Under her
leadership the committee commissioned two significant public artworks
– Wall Drawing by Sol LeWitt and In Minds, a cast bronze two-part
sculpture, by Tony Cragg. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Hobby consulted with
a private equity firm in commissioning a large scale, public water sculpture
by Jene Highstein to anchor the development of a 17- acre urban mixed-use
campus.
Mrs. Hobby’s experience includes research, artist/institution
collaboration, logistics and site-specific installations. Mrs. Hobby
is on the Board of Trustees at the Houston Arts Alliance and St. John’s School. She has served
as a board committee member at The Museum of Fine Arts’ Glassell
School and at The Menil Collection.
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