About The American Friends

Our Mission –

The mission of the American Friends of Musée de Montmartre (AFMM) is to raise awareness among Americans and provide additional financial support, on a tax-deductible basis, for the Musée’s activities.

The AFMM supports exhibitions, educational activities, and additions to the permanent collection of the Museum. The AFMM receives contributions through a 501(c)(3) organization, Myriad USA.

From our President

Montmartre is a layered city. The ebullient, artistic world of Degas, Erik Satie, Matisse, Modigliani, Renoir, Suzanne Valadon, and Toulouse-Lautrec is still there, hidden beneath the Montmartre of present day, but we need the Musée to access it.

The AFMM are the lionhearted champions of the Musée. We cherish this period of art history, of course, but we believe that Montmartre is more than history. Montmartre represents a time of collaboration, creation, and celebration. It is this spirit - this cabaret spirit - that the AFMM honors in its support for the Musée and in all of its programming.

The AFMM exists to allow those who do not live in France or speak French to experience the Musée and the magical, artistic world it unlocks. I invite you to learn more about our publication Number 12 – a reference to the Musée’s address on the Rue Cortot and its storied nature, once housing the studios of Renoir, Utrillo, and Valadon – AFMM membership, and our existing patrons.

A bientôt!

JACQUI MICHEL

AFMM Advisory Board

JACQUI MICHEL, PRESIDENT

Jacqui Michel is an attorney and philanthropist. She is President of the Advisory Board of the American Friends of Musée de Montmartre, Vice President of the Board of Directors of Darbster Rescue, and sits on the Boards of N Street Village, the Campagna Center and the French American Cultural Foundation. Previously, she has served on the Boards of Washington Performing Arts and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is an active supporter of the Parkmont Poetry Center, Mount Vernon, the National Cathedral, and the Cancer Alliance of Palm Beach.

Jacqui graduated with a BA from the University of Arizona and has a JD from the University of San Diego. She is a member of both the New York and Washington, DC bars. She enjoys reading, renovating, travel, and spending time with her husband, David E. Weisman, and their menagerie of pets.

PATRICIA NEBENZAHL, VICE PRESIDENT

Patricia Nebenzahl, a native of Chicago, is an art historian, who has lived in Paris since 2008. She has worked in the archives of the Musée de Montmartre as a volunteer for ten years. She was an iconographic researcher for the documentary film about Montmartre through the eyes of Suzanne Valadon on view at the Musée de Montmartre and accessible on the AFMM web page.

Patricia completed a dual degree in the History of Art and French, spending her junior year in Paris at the École de Louvre and the Sorbonne. After a post-graduate year at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, she worked at both Sotheby’s and Christies and taught at NYU in the Appraisal Studies program. Patricia has conceived and conducted programs in the art world for Wall Street firms such as Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Paris. She returned to academia in 2005 to work on her doctorate on the Parisian avant-garde art market at the beginning of the 20th century at the University of Manchester, UK for three years, then moved to Paris to continue her studies and follow her dream to live in Paris.

PHILLIP DENNIS CATE

Phillip Dennis Cate is a widely published specialist of 19th century French art whose expertise covers Montmartre, sculpture, and Japonism. He has organized programs for international institutions such as The Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; The Russian National Library, St. Petersburg; The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; The National Museum of Japanese Art, Tokyo; and The Imperial Household, Tokyo.

Previously the Director of the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey and a Curator of Special Exhibitions and Consultant for the Collection and Renovation of the Musée de Montmartre in Paris. Cate now works as an independent curator and critic.

TIMOTHY HANFORD

Tim Hanford is a San Francisco native who now lives in Rancho Mirage, CA. He attended Stanford University, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, and Harvard Law School, where he received his J.D.

He practiced tax law from 1980-1987, worked as a tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee in Washington, DC from 1987-2001, and, since 2001, has worked as a consultant on federal tax legislation. His passion is studying and collecting art – particularly that of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen and other Montmartre artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chez Bruant, Monsieur Alexandre (détail) by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Yvette Guilbert by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

ADRIENNE HENSLEY

Adrienne Hensley is a native New Yorker born and raised in Greenwich Village. Adrienne earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Psychology and Early Childhood Education at Boston College. She has had extensive experience in senior roles with not-for-profit organizations in Washington, DC, Alexandria, Virginia, and Greenwich, Connecticut. She brings sound mature judgment, deep analysis, and broad community perspective to her responsibilities. For the past several years, Adrienne has served on the Board of Trustees for WETA, the PBS station in Washington that produces numerous programs, including the PBS NewsHour, for the public broadcasting system. She also serves on the Ambassadors Council for N Street Village, a charity in Washington empowering homeless and low income women to achieve their highest quality of life.

In recent years, Adrienne served on the board of THIS, an organization introducing foreign diplomats and their families to American culture and history. She was also on the boards of Stop Child Abuse Now and Healthy Families of Alexandria, two organizations protecting at-risk women and children. Adrienne is a Certified Hospice Counselor and Domestic Abuse Counselor. While living in Connecticut, Adrienne co-led the newcomers group in Darien and was President of Episcopal Women at Christ Church in Greenwich and served on the Parent Board of Greenwich Academy. Adrienne and her husband Dennis live in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and enjoy collecting 19th and 20th century American and British paintings.

DENNIS HENSLEY

Mr. Hensley has demonstrated strong leadership skills in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science from the University of Illinois and a Juris Doctor from the College of William & Mary. As practice group head at Sidley Austin LLP, Managing Director and Head of Compliance at JP Morgan, member of the NASD Board of Governors and securities regulator in Washington, Mr. Hensley provided advice on a wide variety of strategic, transactional and operational matters enabling organizations to manage their legal, regulatory, control and compliance risks. In particular, he advised on the development and management of internal control systems, compliance with regulatory and ethical requirements and responses to regulatory enforcement actions.

Throughout his career, Mr. Hensley has also shown strong leadership on the boards of many not-for-profit and charitable organizations, including those providing educational and health care services. Among these include the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, the Venerable Order of St. John of Jersusalem, the Alexandria Historical Society, the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, the Metropolitan Club of Washington, the Washington National Cathedral, and the College of William & Mary.

Femme au renard et à l'éventail by Georges Bottini

DOMINIQUE ZUERCHER

Dominique Zuercher was born in Vichy, France. She holds dual French and American citizenship. She graduated from the University of Clermont Ferrand in France with a dual major in English and Spanish. She pursued post-graduate work in Paris at E.S.S.D. Business Management School and at Ecole du Louvre, where she studied art history and 19th century paintings and sculptures.

Before moving to the US, she was the Administrative Manager for Technology Resources, S.A. in Paris. She subsequently worked for the International Monetary Fund, within their Department of Language Services in Washington, DC; and for William S. Harrelson & Associates, where she served as a co-author on the initial feasibility study for Disneyland France. She was a Division Manager for Rain Drop Products in Washington, DC until her retirement. Today, she lives half-time in Paris and half-time in Washington, DC with her American husband.