Lea Weingarten began the Weingarten Art Group (formerly Contemporary Connoisseur) in 2006, after more than fifteen years experience of working with public and private art collections in achieving their collecting goals.

Ms. Weingarten co-founded The Menil Collection’s popular Contemporaries collecting group at the personal request of Mme. Dominique de Menil. She serves on the boards of the Glassell School Core Committee, the Prints and Drawings Acquisitions Committee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil Society Steering Committee for The Menil Collection. She has also served multiple terms on the board of the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston. Lea holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Zooey Martin received her BA, magna cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University, and her MA in art history from Washington University. As a curator, Ms. Martin has worked at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, where she curated Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. She has organized several museum exhibitions and contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues.

Ms. Martin has extensive experience working with private collectors and has been integral to realizing many private collections as museum exhibitions: including the Morgan Library’s Mannerism and Modernism: The Kasper Collection of Drawings and Photographs; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s presentations of END GAME: British Contemporary Art from the Chaney Family Collection, 2008, for which she authored the accompanying catalogue, and RED HOT: Contemporary Asian Art from the Chaney Family Collection, 2007, for which she contributed to the catalogue. Ms. Martin writes about art for various publications including artforum.com, glasstire.com, Art+Culture Houston, and Art Ltd. Magazine.

Melanie Harris de Maycotte specializes in Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art. She holds degrees in Spanish Literature, Communications and Latin American Studies from the University of Texas—Austin. The Director of her own gallery in Mexico for eight years, Ms. Harris de Maycotte has great insight into the inside workings of the art market and into U.S. and Latin American emerging artists. Her hands-on experience with the art fair world and with international galleries, as well as her ability to identify early talent, is of particular usefulness for collectors. Ms. Harris de Maycotte approaches art advising from a Fine Arts perspective—through the fundamentals of construction, composition, concept, color, and quality of line. An active arts writer, her essays have been published in artist catalogues and arts journals, primarily in Mexico. Expertise in cultural and artistic trends in Latin America and Europe are hallmarks of Ms. Harris de Maycotte’s ongoing practice.

Complimenting her art world talents, Melanie is an active volunteer, mentor and patron of an organization (founded in Mexico by her and her husband) that encourages creativity and a full high school education for rural children. She believes strongly that the arts are critical to stimulating both individuals’ lives and the community as a whole. Melanie incorporates this philosophy in every aspect of her personal life and of her advising work with clients.

Caroline Ewing Walker holds a B.A. in Art History from Smith College, a M.A. in Modern Art History, Theory & Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has completed Ph.D. coursework in African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art at Indiana University. Her experience includes writing about contemporary art, curating exhibitions, teaching art history at the university level, working in museum education and public programs, and in managing a corporate art collection. Caroline's primary interests are in global contemporary art, community engagement and education.