At Home in the World, at Home in Ventura County

During a 26-year career in museums, I have had the privilege to serve in a variety of institutions throughout the United States. Whether at the Plymouth (Mich.) Historical Society, the Kansas Museum of History, the national Boy Scouts museum or the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, I’ve learned that each museum and cultural institution has important local, regional and national stories to tell.

A local living history farm might tell stories of the area’s early settlement but must also explain the national economic pressures that brought those settlers there. At the Ronald Reagan museum, we interpret the life of a young man who grew up poor in the small town of Dixon, Ill., determined to make something of himself. It is a local story but it figures significantly in his rise to statewide, national and international prominence.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum by its nature draws a considerable national and international audience. During the four years I have directed this library and museum, I have made it my particular purpose and passion to create programs and special exhibits to draw an expanding local audience and give people reasons to return several times each year. To be honest, our annual visitor totals could drop by nearly 42% if we did not focus on that local audience. Although that is a financial reality, it is by no means the only reason I have felt so strongly about reaching out locally and regionally.

For most programs, we charge no entrance fee, and we offer free days for the museum several times a year, enabling young families and senior citizens on fixed incomes to participate. Especially important is the opportunity our programming and exhibits provide visitors to touch, imagine, taste and hear history and realize its importance in their lives.

Our programs have expanded our local audience, building bridges throughout Ventura and neighboring counties, and mirroring the Americans who elected Ronald Reagan president.

From “Rawhide Western Roundup,” which draws on local ranching traditions and the western persona of Ronald Reagan, to “Sharing of Holiday Traditions,” which included an African American Kwanzaa celebration and Latin American, Lithuanian, Polish, Norwegian and Russian Christmas food, dance and music, we have reached out to many who never before had felt a part of the museum.

One weekend we featured working artists from across the nation who had made and given gifts to recent presidents. A series of shows that featured the works of artists Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol and, most recently, Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Those exhibits brought to the library artists and art lovers, art teachers and art students at all levels of our education system. We have shown the work of area African American artist Frederick Booker and have hosted Revolutionary War and Civil War encampments, a gospel sing, begun a new Constitution Day program and held summer youth workshops. Our partnerships with area groups and particularly with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation have made such growth possible.

I know that my successor will bring differing expertise and priorities. I am also certain of the Reagan library and museum’s long-term commitment to the communities that surround it. Such a partnership will continue to enrich the Reagan library and all those it exists to serve.