Familiar Faces in New Roles Keep History Moving Forward at Connecticut Landmarks

January 2, 2024 • The work of an organization like Connecticut Landmarks is ever evolving. And so, too, is our staff. We are pleased to announce several internal moves among our dedicated team. These changes will allow us to better meet the needs of our sites, our collections, and you our visitors. Connecticut Landmarks has been around for 87 years — and our historic properties much longer still – but it is our enthusiastic staff members’ expertise that will carry us through the next 87 years and beyond. Congratulations to Shaelyn Amaio, Aileen Bastos, Jocelyn Weaver, and Olivia Grella (left to right in photo). Learn more about them below.

Shaelyn Amaio has over a decade of experience in museum education, exhibit development, and project management at history museums and design firms in New England, New York, and Alabama. She earned a graduate certificate in museum education from Tufts University and a master’s in museum anthropology from Columbia. A Connecticut native, she returned to the Nutmeg State in 2018 for an grant-funded exhibit development and interpretive planning position at Connecticut Landmarks — and stayed! She is thrilled to be expanding her role as Director of Public Engagement & Marketing to provide vision for all interpretive and marketing storytelling initiatives at Connecticut Landmarks’ historic house museums. Look for her at a museum, theme park, or roadside attraction near you.

Aileen Bastos is a Secretary of the Interior-qualified architectural historian with a background in historical research and writing. Her experience includes writing National and State Register of Historic Places nominations, federal and state historic tax credit applications, property descriptions, historical narratives, and significance statements for buildings and structures, as well as conducting land use histories for parks, cemeteries, and other natural and cultural landscapes. She has worked on a variety of cultural resource inventories and authored an assessment of Mago Point historic district’s redevelopment needs. Her focus on preserving buildings, open spaces, and communities to bring Connecticut downtowns back to life was highlighted in her essay, Preserving Connecticut’s Main Streets: The Role of Developers in the Revitalization of Downtown through Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings. She holds a BA in museum studies and an MA in public history with a concentration in historic preservation.

Olivia Grella joined Connecticut Landmarks in March as Development Associate, and is excited to move into a new role as the Marketing & Communications Associate. A graduate of Central Connecticut State University with a B.A. in both English and Spanish and a minor in Strategic Communication, Olivia returned this fall to begin CCSU’s master’s degree in public history. In her previous roles at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Travelers and as student leader for Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society, she created social media content, outreach initiatives, and programs, while developing her editing, marketing, and interpersonal skills. Her summer spent in Siena, Italy reaffirmed her passion for community engagement and the arts through her volunteer work and studies in Art History and Italian Language. In her free time, Olivia watches documentaries with her cats: Bonnie, Luna, and baby Mal! She loves going on hikes, exploring museums, and painting, too.

Jocelyn Weaver has worked at Connecticut Landmarks since 2016, starting as a guide at the Nathan Hale Homestead before transitioning to working with the collections. They received a degree in Cultural Anthropology from Arcadia University in 2013. Jocelyn is excited to have moved into a full-time position working with the archives and collections at Connecticut Landmarks and helping to preserve the many sites for years to come.