Shriver Seeks a Women’s Museum

Maria Shriver, the wife of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has shaken up the state’s history museum by pushing for a complete makeover that would focus entirely on women, roiling the normally placid world of historical archives.

The facility, which opened in 1998, would be renamed the California Women’s History Museum and would replace running exhibits that currently illustrate the state’s economy, political legacy, immigration trends and culture.

Documents that have circulated describing the transformation say Edwin Schlossberg, a museum design expert and husband of Shriver’s cousin Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, would plan the new facility.

Some members of the museum board said they welcomed Shriver’s enthusiasm about the project, even though she does not have any legal authority over the museum’s operation. But some wondered why one segment of society -- women -- should be given preference over the state as a whole.

The board of trustees voted at a closed-door Sept. 13 meeting to change the museum’s focus -- the first step toward official approval. The Legislature, which begins its new session in December, must sanction the museum’s transformation.

Two weeks after the board’s vote, member Charles G. Palm announced that he would step down as chairman of the California Heritage Preservation Commission -- which effectively also ended his tenure as a trustee. He was replaced by Gary Brutsch, now the chairman of the commission.

“My preference would be that the history museum continue,” said Palm, an archives expert at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “I have nothing against a women’s museum, but we should not sacrifice a history museum for it.”

Palm added that the board let him argue his case for a full hour, and “the hearing was respectful. The vote was cast, and I lost.” He declined to comment on why he left the board.

Brutsch, Palm’s replacement, said he was excited that Shriver “has an interest in the museum. That is huge.” It means, he said, that officials can attract more donors and experts who are important to the museum’s success. At the same time, he said, “we can’t disenfranchise anybody and we can’t showcase anybody” when it comes to the direction of the museum.

Shriver has made the museum -- 25,000 square feet covering two floors -- a special focus since her husband’s inauguration. She encouraged an earlier name change, from the Golden State Museum to the California State History Museum.

And she arranged an exhibit that debuted in May, devoted to the achievement of the state’s “remarkable women” -- from farmworker organizer Dolores Huerta to young actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, now residents of Manhattan. Officials said the exhibit, which occupies less than half of the second floor, has proved a hit, boosting attendance 25% and increasing sales at the gift shop.

Shriver did not respond to a request for comment. But Terri Carbaugh, her spokeswoman, said the museum “is something she believes in and would like to see happen.”

“It’s her belief that the museum would not belong to her, but would belong to the almost 17 million women in the state of California,” Carbaugh said. “And she would be happy to play a role in that development.”

Shriver’s bid to change the institution’s focus to women appealed to the trustees of the financially struggling archives museum. She does not control the museum, nor does her husband. Current board members appoint new members from among the ranks of prominent Californians and museum experts.

“She talked to me and others about changing the entire museum, and we considered it over a series of board meetings and concluded it made eminent sense,” said board member Steven A. Merksamer, a prominent Sacramento attorney for political candidates.

“We’re still going to be focused in on California history,” he said, “but it’s going to be focused on women’s place in history, which has played a huge role in California’s history.”

A consultant retained by the museum put out a written request for applications for the executive director’s job. The solicitation said the museum would raise $10 million to design and build the new exhibits.

“Renowned exhibition designer Edwin Schlossberg of ESI Design of New York will design the 25,000-square-foot exhibition space,” reads the solicitation, which has since been removed from the hiring consultant’s website.

Schlossberg designed the exhibit on “remarkable women.” According to his firm’s Internet site, he also designed the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and has created “experiential designs for museums, corporations, parks, websites, retail environments, entertainment complexes and public spaces.”

Merksamer said it was premature to conclude that Schlossberg would be the designer, though “that may very well happen.” Board members said they were disappointed that Schlossberg’s name surfaced before they even had time to vote on hiring anyone.

California has a hodgepodge of public and private facilities devoted to history that include the Capitol itself, the African American Museum in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park and the State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. The museum that Shriver wants to transform is devoted mainly to archives and has been struggling to get adequate funding since it opened.

It holds most official state documents, such as the original state Constitution, but many of California’s other treasures are spread around the state.

The state keeps many of its historical items in a West Sacramento warehouse, cataloged recently by the California Journal: stagecoaches, firearms, beaded and sacred tribal garments, documents, woven baskets, saddles, flax wheels, portraits, firefighting equipment, pottery and inaugural gowns, a table and a pair of Louis XV chairs from former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

The museum Shriver wants to revamp was built with public money but largely operates with private funds. Meetings of focus groups were conducted across the state to gauge the appetite for a women’s museum, and officials were encouraged by the results.

“Women indicated that they think a women’s museum will be informative to their children,” said Shriver spokeswoman Carbaugh, “and they’re eager to see a museum be created in California that presents history from a female’s perspective.”