Meet the Instructors

 

Sandra Tropper, an accredited senior appraiser in fine art, has been appraiser and art consultant in the Washington, D.C. area for more than 25 years. Accredited by the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), she is a past chair of the Personal Property Committee, current chair of education for the personal property discipline, and international chair on education. She teaches the Principles of Valuation courses 203 and 204 and is an AQB-certified USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) instructor. She represents ASA at the Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (TAFAC), where she has chaired the TAFAC Personal Property Working Group and the Appraisal Standards Board Issues Committee, and served as 2011 TAFAC chair. She is a member of the Advisory Task Force for the Appraisal Standards Board for revision of personal property standards. Frances Zeman, a member of ASA since 1980, is accredited to appraise fine art, antiques, and decorative arts, Oriental rugs, and general residential contents. Zeman holds a BS from the University College of New York University and an MA in art history from Brooklyn College. She was elected to ASA’s College of Fellows and is a designated life member. She has served on the Personal Property Committee since 1991 and was its chair for two terms. Zeman has taught ASA’s Principles of Valuation courses (Appraisal Research and Analysis, Appraisal Report Writing) and an advanced appraisal report writing course (The Logic of the Argument) at the university level since 2007. She also wrote the valuation standard, “Seventeen Easy Steps to Writing an Appraisal,” which was reprinted in the first issue of The Journal of Property Economics, 2004.

Edith Yeomans is a professionally trained appraiser and an accredited senior appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). She holds a BA in art history from McMaster University and has more than 25 years of experience in the arts in Canada. She is a fine art specialist with extensive knowledge of contemporary Canadian and international art scenes. A member of the board of the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition since 1991, she served as its chair for three years. She was the personal property discipline governor on ASA’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2010 and served as president of the Toronto chapter. Yeomans is on the faculty of ASA’s Principles of Valuation education program, has published articles on valuation in Canadian and American journals, and has spoken extensively about professional appraisal practices.

Lela Hersh is the President of Museum of Fine Arts Consulting, LLC. She is an Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). Hersh is a Senior Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago in the graduate department of the Arts Administration & Policy program. She is also a twenty-year veteran of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago where she served as their Director of Collections & Exhibitions and a past board member of the American Association of Museums. Hersh is the former the International Chair of the Personal Property Discipline and President of the Chicago Chapter of ASA. She is currently an ASA Governor for the Personal Property and on their Board of Examiners.

Patricia H. Atwood is an accredited senior appraiser educated at Cornell University (A.B.) and Princeton University (M.A.), she was Curator/ Executive Director at The Time Museum (Rockford, Illinois) for twenty years before founding Timely Antique Appraisals in 2005.

Atwood is author of “Zero Fair Market Value for Antiques? New regulations may affect the valuation of many estates”, an article published by Trusts & Estates, 2014  and “Appraising Antique Clocks” in Valuing Specific Assets in Divorce by Robert D. Feder, Apsen Publishers and “Logistics of Downsizing” chapter in Pre- & Post Retirement Tips for Librarians, ed., Carol Smallwood, American Library Association.

Patricia Atwood is currently a member of the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation and a member of the IRS Advisory Council.