It’s not often the announcement of a new museum curator is big news, but a new leader is expected to save the Riverside Metropolitan Museum after the pest-infested city facility closed and “failed at almost everything.”
The new curator with more than 20 years experience will take the helm of the city facility, overseeing a major overhaul that prompted the City Council to close the museum until 2020, it was announced Thursday.
Robyn Peterson will officially start as museum director on Dec. 20, replacing Assistant City Manager Alex Nguyen, who has been serving as interim director for most of the year.
“The metropolitan museum is uniquely poised to become a pillar of Riverside’s cultural growth,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said. “We look forward to working with Ms. Peterson as she helps Riverside reach the museum’s potential.”
Peterson recently left the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings Montana, where she had served as executive director since 2006, leading a $7.5 million endowment campaign, according to city officials. Prior to that, she spent 11 years as curator of collections at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York.
“Riverside is fortunate that a museum executive with Ms. Peterson’s experience and demonstrated track record of success will lead our metropolitan museum into the future,” Riverside City Manager John Russo said. “Robyn will work with all sectors of the Riverside community to create a museum that will serve the region as a cultural hub and repository of our history.”
In July, the city council ordered the museum closed, beginning on Labor Day, for a three-year renovation, pointing to a number of deficiencies that needed to be addressed — partly to avoid a loss of accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.
The move was opposed by the museum’s advisory board, but the council found conditions warranted a lengthy shutdown.
A report submitted by Nguyen stated the museum was “failing at almost everything” and desperately needed a course change. According to the report, taxidermy displays had not been properly maintained and were infested with pests, and unique archives had been stored in the basement of the Mission Inn Avenue facility, suffering neglect.
“The Riverside Metropolitan Museum has tremendous collections and a deep history that both deserve to be better known,” Peterson said. “I look forward to working with the community to create a vibrant and exciting new center celebrating the city’s cultural life.”
Peterson will oversee staff training, cataloguing a 200,000-piece collection and reorganizing all contents, according to city officials.
–City News Service