Wow, you have a lot of degrees. Why so many? — I liked school. I really liked school.

Were you one of those kids who were always artistic? — Yes, I was always painting and drawing and making house plans. I was in art shows all the time, too. One time my dad, who is very careful, very precise, helped me with a project. I wanted to cut a rocking chair in half and make both halves rock. He said no, no, it wouldn't work. He kept making plans and thinking about it and I kept telling him to just cut the rocking chair in half. Finally he did it and then he figured out how to put mercury in the runners and do all this stuff to make it balance so that each half did rock. We called it "Rocking chair for a split personality."

Did you ever work as an artist? — Among other things, yes. After art school, my first real job was at the Greenberg Gallery. I loved it. It was exciting, and I was painting myself at this time. It was the height of the art market and I decided I needed to move to New York. I just thought I needed to have that experience. I was 21.

How did it go? — I got a job at an international art magazine, "Contemporania," and that was great, but as soon as I got to New York, the art market tanked. The magazine folded after a while, and I wound up being there for about a year and then I decided it was time to go back to school.

Where did you go to work after architecture school? — I went to work for HOK. I won an award while I was there, an AIA (American Institute of Architects) for a project I worked on for the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles offices.

Did you stay with HOK for long? — I left to go to work for a smaller firm, Suttle Mindlin, and then I left there to work on my own. That was great, and I had an art studio at the same time. I really liked it.

But? — Well, I decided I wanted to try my hand at fashion design.

How long did you work in fashion design? — About three years, and then I started waiting tables at Pomme restaurant in Clayton. That's where I met Rex, who was moving to St. Louis from L.A.

Did you go to work for him then? — No. I left Pomme to become director of the Arts in Transit project at the time of Metro's cross-county expansion. When that project ended, Rex's art consultant had quit and he offered me the job and I took it.

What have you been doing aside from helping develop the Sinquefields' art collection? — I was the point person on developing the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. We founded it in 2007 as a not-for-profit, and it has been a fantastic undertaking.

What was the last, best book you read? — "Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess," by Francis M. Naumann and Bradley Bailey, an assistant professor of art history at St. Louis University.

And what do you drive? — A Jeep Wrangler. It's the four-door kind. Black. 2007 or 2008 — the first year they came out.