Meet Robin von Seldeneck, CEO of the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia

When Robin von Seldeneck joined the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia in Staunton, VA, as CEO in the summer of 2026, she brought with her decades of experience in education, museum leadership, and a longstanding interest in the stories of the people whose lives have shaped American history.

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Her connection to the region dates back to the late 1980s, when she came to the area as a student at Mary Baldwin. While majoring in history and political science, von Seldeneck found room in her schedule to explore a subject that was new to her: museum studies.

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"While I was working on my history degree, I had a few spaces in my schedule for classes that interested me and that I might not normally have taken. One of those was museum studies. I had the opportunity to take a few museum studies courses, and I loved them. I thought they were great, but at the time, I didn't think anything else about it."

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Her early career focused primarily on education and included positions at Mary Baldwin, James Madison University, Blue Ridge Community College, and Stuart Hall School. After taking time away from her career to raise her sons, she accepted what was initially intended to be a 10-hour-per-week position at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, coordinating a Teaching American History grant for educators.

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That part-time role quickly grew.

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While working at the Presidential Library, von Seldeneck had the opportunity to work closely with CEO Don Wilson, who continued asking her to expand her responsibilities.

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"He's a hard person to say no to, so I said, 'I'll do 20 hours.' Then that became 24, then 32, and the next thing I knew, I was full time. I really fell in love with how museums were changing and evolving at that time, and that's what kept me in the museum field."

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Von Seldeneck ultimately spent 18 years at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, including 11 years as CEO. During that time, her interest increasingly shifted toward the lives and experiences of people who rarely receive prominent placement in traditional historical narratives.

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"What I really became most fascinated by was not the presidents or the people in leadership, but the everyday people. Who is really making the country? Who are the ones sacrificing or making the gains? They're often forgotten. I think there are so many great stories and so many ways we relate to these unnamed men and women that we don't know enough about, but should."

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That passion for telling the stories of everyday people makes the Frontier Culture Museum a natural fit for the next chapter of her career. Through its living history exhibits and interpretation, the Frontier Culture Museum explores the cultures, experiences, work, traditions, and migration stories of people whose lives contributed to the development of the Shenandoah Valley and the United States.

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Since arriving at the Frontier Culture Museum, von Seldeneck has made getting to know its staff one of her highest priorities. She has been meeting individually with four or five team members each week, often choosing to hold those conversations outdoors whenever possible.

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Those meetings have given her an opportunity to understand not only how different departments operate, but also how deeply staff members care about the Frontier Culture Museum and the work they do every day.

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"Our visitors pick up on that pretty quickly. Our living history interpreters have a real passion for what they do."

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That commitment extends well beyond the Frontier Culture Museum's interpretation team.

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"Everyone I've talked with, whether they are interpreters, in facilities, or in accounting, has a real sense of ownership here, and that's important. People go above and beyond when they feel that sense of ownership. They're going to do the right thing."

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For von Seldeneck, moving from a traditional historical museum environment to an expansive open-air living history museum has also provided an opportunity to experience a different approach to connecting visitors with history.

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"I like how we do interpretation here. I think it brings the visitor in. The professionalism I've seen didn't surprise me, but it has been really good and refreshing. I expected that would be the case."

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Looking Ahead

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Von Seldeneck joined the Frontier Culture Museum during a significant period of growth.

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Among the most anticipated projects is the American Journey Gallery, a new indoor museum building scheduled to open in fall 2027. The approximately 40,000-square-foot facility will include a permanent exhibition, temporary exhibition space, a library and reading room, updated collections storage, and the new Cochran Pavilion.

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Von Seldeneck sees the project as an opportunity to expand what the Frontier Culture Museum can offer visitors while creating new possibilities for programming throughout the year.

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"We'll see an increase in visitation year-round, which I think is really important in terms of how we can bring people together. I've always said that museums are places where people can come together with different ideas or viewpoints, but in a safe place to have conversations. That's something I would like to see us do here. We can have guest speakers or educators come in and talk about why things were the way they were and offer something more than you might get during a regular museum visit."

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The new indoor space will also provide greater flexibility for evening programming, educational opportunities, and group tourism.

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"It will allow us to do more programming in the evening and create more opportunities for bus tours. A lot of bus tours are interested in coming here, but the Frontier Culture Museum is so spread out that they might not have time to see everything. With the new indoor museum, they'll have another way to experience the site. I think that will be really helpful as we move forward."

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While construction continues, von Seldeneck has a straightforward message for anyone considering a visit.

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"Come visit. Do not let construction get in your way. We're here, we're open, and yes, it might be a little loud at times, but it is definitely worth coming for a visit."

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For von Seldeneck, the opportunity to lead the Frontier Culture Museum is ultimately about both the stories it preserves and the people who bring those stories to life every day.

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"I am so excited to be here. It's a wonderful team, and I feel really honored to have the opportunity to work alongside so many great people here at the Frontier Culture Museum. I know I will be learning a lot from them, and I know there will be areas where they'll learn from me. I'm looking forward to working alongside this amazing team as we continue taking the Frontier Culture Museum to the national level."

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About the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia

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The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia in Staunton, VA, is the largest open-air living history museum in the Shenandoah Valley and one of Virginia's leading family and cultural tourism destinations.

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Through historic buildings, live demonstrations, exhibitions, and living history interpreters, the Frontier Culture Museum explores the cultures and traditions of Indigenous peoples of Virginia; German, English, and Irish immigrants who traveled through the Shenandoah Valley; enslaved Africans and their descendants; and the generations of people whose experiences contributed to the development of the region and the nation.

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Visitors can experience working farm sites, historic trades, domestic life, foodways, agriculture, craftsmanship, and many other aspects of daily life while engaging directly with living history interpreters throughout the Frontier Culture Museum.

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To learn more about the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, visit frontiermuseum.org.

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