LAGUNA BEACH, CA.- Laguna Art Museum has announced Victoria Gerard as Deputy Director. Gerard brings 15 years of experience in museum management, program and exhibition development, and research. Prior to joining Laguna Art Museum, Gerard served as the Vice President of Programs and Collections at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California where she organized a diverse schedule of special exhibitions, established partnerships with museums and organizations around the world and oversaw work related to the museums permanent collection. Gerard built partnerships with parents, schools and adult service organizations to offer a range of virtual and onsite learning opportunities that expanded the cultural knowledge and understanding of people of all ages while also responding to critical community needs. She also spearheaded the institutions response to the COVID-19 pandemic, building a virtual museum from the ground up.
We are thrilled to welcome a seasoned leader such as Victoria to our staff, said Julie Perlin Lee, Executive Director of the Laguna Art Museum. Her experience in arts management coupled with her deep appreciation for community engagement makes her an ideal fit for our institution in our next chapter of growth and development.
Gerard holds a MA in Arts Management from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Public History and History from Villanova University where she developed an expertise in early American and Federalist period material culture through her studies as well as opportunities at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
I am proud to join the team at Laguna Art Museum, said Gerard. I am energized by the museum's deep roots in the community and the meaningful contributions it has made to the recognition of California art throughout its history. It is a privilege to continue to contribute to Orange County's rich cultural landscape in this new role.
The museum has also named Ryan Callis as Chief Proprietor and Madeline Roth-Scofield as Membership and Database Manager. Callis brings 20 years of museum, gallery and private client art-handling experience having worked as a preparator at Orange County Museum of Art, Laguna Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles among others. A nonprofit professional since 2013, Roth-Scofield has served in a number of positions in cultural and education-focused institutions and organizations in development, special events, and guest experience.