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SCW SPRING 2016

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18 SANTA CRUZ WOMAN | SPRING 2016 Instead of getting into trouble for drawing on a museum's walls at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History people are invited to create art, write poems, share personal stories and even draw on the walls. "I firmly believe that everyone has something to contribute to the museum," says Nina Simon, a self-described museum activist whose vision is to open up museums to more people. "Some of our best program ideas have come from community members. What they dream could make our museum and our community stronger." To encourage participation in new, often unorthodox, ways, Simon installed a magnetized wall for people to write suggestions soon after taking the helm as MAH executive director in 2011. To this day, she reads all comments. Simon, who also serves on the boards of the Community Science Workshop Network and the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, is the author of "The Participatory Museum," a guide to working with community members and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, essential places. For her, it is a passion. She works with more than 2,000 local artists and organizations annually to co- produce events and exhibitions. Every first Friday, MAH is open late and features live music, an all-ages art activity and artist and history talks. On third Fridays, there is a hands-on family-friendly festival. This summer, museum visitors will meet artists and participate in art works in progress during an artist residency program. "These highlight parts of our community and bridge connections across differences, across diversity in fun and beautiful ways," Simon says. Simon has never been one for doing the expected. When she was a college student studying electrical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, she was also a slam poet. "It was a bifurcated life but an interesting, fabulous one." After college, Simon worked at NASA, an imagined dream job. But, she didn't enjoy the day-to-day work of engineering. She started volunteering at a small science and children's museum, designing exhibits and educational programs and found her calling there. Since taking the helm in 2011, annual attendance has increased three-fold, growing from 17,349 visitors in 2011 to an expected 60,000 by the end of June 30 In February, the Institute of Museum and Library Services named MAH one of only 30 finalists for the 2016 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. One of Simon's favorite aspects of her role is when she is out in the community somewhere and someone comes up to her and tells her how much they love coming to the museum. "I feel like it's my job to make the museum representative of the whole community," she said. "I feel proud when that comes true." Soon, MAH will expand free programming in Abbott Square, a courtyard plaza just outside the museum doors. "If we're going to build community, we can't just do it inside our walls," Simon says. "We have to go out into the streets." Simon lives in the Happy Valley area of Santa Cruz with her husband and her two- and-a-half-year-old daughter. Beyond the Museum Walls Nina Simon shepherds new era in the museum community "If we're going to build community, we can't just do it inside our walls. We have to go out into the streets." By Tara Fatemi Walker Nina Simon Executive Director, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History photo by Lexie Corfiatis

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