Madison Group is a one-stop-shop for all your appraisal needs, from fine art to wine to antique furniture to other rare and valuable collectibles. Our associated professionals bring decades of knowledge and experience in their respective fields and are each recognized experts in a variety of areas of specialization and industry expertise.
Rachael Blackburn Cozad
Owner and Principal of Madison Group Fine Art Appraisals, Rachael offers over twenty-five years of comprehensive experience in the visual arts and is a certified member of the Appraisers Association of America. Her areas of expertise include Modern and Contemporary Art, American Art, European Sculpture and Painting, Public Art, and Fine and Rare Wines. In her leadership capacity Rachael ensures that Madison Group Fine Art Appraisals adheres to the established Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and to the Code of Ethics of the Appraisers Association of America.
Rachael holds a M.A. in art history from California State University, Los Angeles, and a B.A. from Texas Christian University. From 2001-2012 she was the Director of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, an institution recognized for its collection of modern and contemporary art, for its exciting exhibitions of work by established and emerging artists, for its large-scale public art projects, and for its Collectors Forum program for art collectors. Prior to this, Rachael was Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles, which controls the world’s largest collection of sculpture by the 19th Century French master Auguste Rodin.
As a museum professional, Rachael has curated exhibitions for many major museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Kemper Museum. She has led major projects at The White House and New York’s Rockefeller Center and internationally, in Australia, France, Russia and Singapore. Her record of publications produced in conjunction with these exhibitions is extensive.
Rachael is the Founding President of the Riverbank Foundation, a 501C3 organization created to update the George Caleb Bingham Catalogue Raisonné. In this capacity, she provides oversight of a volunteer Board of Directors and a professional Advisory Board of scholars, and acts as primary fundraiser for the project.
Community service includes her role as Vice-Chair of the Society of Fellows, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and also as a peer reviewer for the U.S. General Services Administration’s Art in Architecture program. She is a former Chair of the Southern California chapter of ArtTable, a national organization for professional women in leadership positions in the arts and of the advisory panel for Art 21: the award-winning PBS television series on the visual arts.
Johanna Perry Diercks
Associate Appraiser, Johanna Perry Diercks has been with Madison Group Fine Art Appraisals since 2012. As a generalist appraiser, she has extensive experience valuing fine art and all areas of the decorative arts, as well as with general household contents, furniture, and fine wine. She has extensive experience with propagandist art and posters, social realism, and the Czech Art Nouveau illustrator Alphonse Mucha. She is currently working toward her associated membership with the Appraisers Association of America.
Johanna attended the Winterthur Institute Program, Winterthur, Delaware as the FAE Wendell Garret Scholar in 2015, which provided in-depth study of Winterthur’s Decorative Arts Collection of American-made objects created between 1620-1860. She received her M.A. in Art History from the University of Missouri, Kansas City; and her B.A. in Art History and Criticism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She performs on-site inspections, organizes data, manages client inventories, performs artist and market research and oversees many of the day-to-day administrative aspects of Madison Group Fine Art Appraisals offices including a proprietary database system and an extensive research library.
Tracey Kahle
Tracey earned the prestigious Graduate Gemologist title at the Gemological Institute of America in 1988 in Los Angeles, followed by an apprenticeship with renowned Harold Tivol and Tom Tivol. She has experienced 27 years of success purchasing and appraising loose gemstones, diamonds, and fine jewelry for local and nationally recognized luxury retail jewelers. During her career, Tracey worked closely with an award-winning jewelry designer, becoming knowledgeable about buying and manufacturing processes, and served as Senior Gemologist and Appraiser in one of the country’s most recognized jewelry retailers.
From 2006-2014, Tracey managed the appraisal department at Tivol, Kansas City’s premier luxury jeweler. She conducted continuing education classes at Johnson County Community College, concentrating on Jewelry Insurance Replacement, sharing important information with insurance agents and adjustors to help better serve their clients.
Tracey is passionate about her own continuing education. She has studied Appraisal Methodology and Appraisal Report Writing with the American Gem Society and International Society of Appraisers (ISA). She holds the highest accreditation, Certified Appraiser of Personal Property, awarded by ISA. She currently serves as a mentor to prospective ISA members and serves on the ISA Designation and Review Committee.
Tracey stresses the importance of impartial and accurate reporting to protect all parties involved in the process for which the appraisal is requested. Tracey works with individuals, wealth managers, attorneys, insurance companies, and trust companies. She recently launched Kahle Appraisals LLC, a by-appointment personal jewelry appraisal service.
Charles Keller
Charles has worked as a personal property appraiser, consultant, researcher, and writer specializing in historical artifacts, rare and antiquarian books, fine art, and antiques for over 19 years. He earned his degree in History from UMKC in 1995, with emphasis on the cultural, political and military history of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the history of science. He has also attended the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia where he specialized in the principles of bibliographic description of books of the hand press era, 1450-1800.
While having chosen to work outside academia, he has nevertheless consulted with or made special presentations for numerous institutions around the world, including the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the University of Illinois Special Collections Archive, Imperial War Museum, London, and others. He also served on the board of trustees of the National World War I Museum, as well as on the museum’s accessions committee.
Charles has worked with historical pieces spanning millennia, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s uniforms. He maintains membership in the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), as well as an international network of colleagues in academic and appraisal circles to assist with complex projects or specialized research.
He currently serves on the executive committee of the H.G. Wells Society in the UK, regularly contributes to society publications, makes frequent appearances in media, including radio in the US and UK, and as a fact checker for various news organizations. He continues to publish on various aspects and periods of history, with his current research focusing on the international cultural impact of Weimar-era German cinema.
200 East 30th Street, Kansas City, M0 64108 — 816.708.0705 — inquiry@mgfaa.com