Vacaville Museum’s New Executive Director Envisions Transformation – The Vacaville Reporter

The Vacaville Museum recently named a new executive director—a woman whose mission will be to transform the museum in a way that better reflects and redefines building community through Solano County’s shared history and its arts and culture.

Clara Dawson, who earned a master’s degree in museum studies with a concentration in nonprofit assessment from the University of Washington, comes to the 213 Buck Ave. location after a two-year stint as director of development at SMUD’s Museum of Science and Curiosities in Sacramento.

Dawson joins the museum, which has served as a center for Solano County history and culture for 40 years, at a time when its leaders anticipate change, if not transformation, she said.

In a press release, Robert Fracchia, chairman of the museum’s board, said, “Clara shares our vision of transforming the museum from a static institution into a dynamic home for Solano County history, art and culture.”

“Her extensive experience in nonprofit development and evaluation is critical to our success as we enter our 41st year of serving the community,” added Fracchia, a retired Solano County Superior Court judge.

In a phone interview Thursday, pressed about her views on the transformation at the city museum, Dawson said, “I wouldn’t say anything specific. The museum is in the process of strategic planning, but that’s something that preceded my time. I’m just now starting to catch up.”

But, she added, “I think the most important thing is that it’s relevant and meaningful to a wider audience than it has been in the past. It’s a museum for all of Solano County.”

Dawson said some people believe the museum is geared toward Vacaville because of its name.

“It’s been an uphill battle” to change that perception, Dawson said. “There are 300,000 people in the county outside of Vacaville. Their stories need to be represented in our spaces.”

In a prepared statement, Fracchia noted that the museum, like many cultural organizations across the county, state and country, “has weathered the pandemic and emerged from it as an organization poised for change.”

Fracchia also said Dawson’s challenge in the coming years will be to “strategically expand funding sources for the center, interpretive and outreach programs, and community partnerships to meet the needs of a rapidly diversifying county.”

“I appreciate the intimacy of a place-based museum, as connected to the community as the Vacaville Museum is,” Dawson said. “The opportunity to work with residents to tell their stories and make meaning together is exciting.”

“Yes, we are called the Vacaville Museum, but we are a center for all of Solano County’s history and culture,” she said. “I hope that community members from all corners of the county will be able to see the Vacaville Museum as a space that represents and reflects their experiences.”

Dawson’s favorite project of her ongoing career has been with the Riverside Art Museum and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts and Culture in Riverside, where she created a program that made visual art more accessible to visitors who are blind or visually impaired.

In addition, working as a “collections keeper” at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, she enjoyed helping locals get closer to their cultural heritage.

Dawson also held two significant internships: at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and at the American Museum of Natural History and Culture in New York.

She said that the internships were an “opportunity to discover what working in a museum could be like” and “to establish contacts with other departments.”

“I learned how museum professionals deliver exhibits,” Dawson added. “I think that was a really valuable experience, working for organizations that are mission-driven.”

As she noted, after the current exhibition, “Sew-lano Quilts: A Pattern of Change,” closes, a new one will open in early November.

“Traditions,” a collaboration between the museum and Opportunity House’s Festival of Trees, will showcase holiday traditions in Solano County. The exhibit, which opens Nov. 2 and runs through Jan. 4, Dawson said, “highlights the diverse ways our community celebrates the season.”

“How Bizarre: Curious Collections,” which opens Feb. 8 and runs through May 3, will coincide with the museum’s annual spring fundraiser.