Heather Yenco

The Cape Fear Museum has announced the promotion of one team member and return of another.

Heather Yenco, previously museum’s registrar, was promoted to curator in April after Barbara Rowe’s retirement in March, according to a news release from New Hanover County. Jeff Zuege, who was a Museum educator for eight years, returned as a full-time educator after teaching in the New Hanover County public school system for five years.  

Yenco joined the team at Cape Fear Museum in 2015 as registrar.  She is now responsible for the acquisition, conservation, preservation and research of the Cape Fear Museum’s artifact collection. She also collaborates with other museum units to develop exhibits and programs that interpret its collection for the public.

Yenco earned a bachelor of arts degree in art history with a minor in arts management from the College of Charleston in 2007 and a master in museum studies from the University of Toronto in 2009. She spent five years as curator of collections and exhibitions at Upcountry History Museum in Greenville, South Carolina.

“Heather has already proved to be a valuable asset to the Museum. She recently took on the challenge of updating our collections database and training our staff to use the new system. We were thrilled to promote her to this important position,” Sheryl Mays, Cape Fear Museum director, said in the release.

Zuege (left) will focus on school programs at the Cape Fear Museum and develop new preschool and weekend activities. He will also lead new programs with museum technology such as the digital planetarium and Lego Mindstorm robots.

With Zuege's position, the Cape Fear Museum will expand its popular "Little Explorers" pre-school program to Saturdays in the fall.

Zuege holds a master’s of science degree in education and has extensive experience in schools and informal education.

“Jeff is a valuable asset to our Museum. He has worked with our team in the past and comes back to us with experience in early childhood education – an important component of family learning at the Museum,” Amy Thornton, Cape Fear Museum education coordinator, said in the release.