About Us:

The Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center (the "MAH") is undergoing a transformation. We have a vision to become a thriving, central gathering place where local residents and visitors have the opportunity to experience art, history, ideas, and culture. We envision engaged members and visitors who are increasingly passionate and knowledgeable about contemporary art and local history that celebrate our diverse community.

This vision is exciting, but it's only as good as our ability to deliver on it. We know that lots of people in Santa Cruz county are not currently connected to the Museum, and we're doing the hard work to engage new participants. We need your help to make this happen. All of our new events and experiences are created in partnership with community collaborators, and we'd love to find a way for you to get involved.

So poke around a bit. Share your own vision of the future and how the Museum can support your creative, social, and intellectual interests. The Museum of Art and History is only as good as the members, donors, volunteers, and enthusiasts who support it-and we hope that you will soon count yourself as part of our family.

Mission:

Our mission is to ignite shared experiences and unexpected connections. We accomplish this mission when we bring people together around art and history through dynamic exhibitions, events, partnerships, and programs.

Our vision is to become a thriving, central gathering place where local residents and visitors have the opportunity to experience art, history, ideas, and culture. We envision engaged members and visitors who are increasingly passionate and knowledgeable about about contemporary art and local history that celebrate our diverse community.

We connect our mission to our vision through the actions we take as an organization. Our unique work fuels our vision:

Through active participation. When we collaborate with community members on exhibitions and programs, we are able to expand the diversity of art and history experiences we can share with visitors. When we invite visitors to actively contribute their own ideas and skills, people feel empowered as creative agents, cultural producers, and engaged museum participants. Their energy fuels increasing passion and knowledge about art and history, and a perception of the museum as a meaningful, compelling place to celebrate our diverse community.

By bringing people together across differences. When we develop exhibitions and programs that highlight unexpected connections between diverse people and ideas, we ignite new understanding of art, history, and each other. Sharing experiences in the museum helps people build understanding and social capital with community members from different cultures, generations, and backgrounds. Art, history, ideas, and culture bring us together across differences and make us stronger as a community.

Through fearless experimentation. We pursue our work in a community-engaged, experimental, and courageous way, igniting a new path forward for the MAH and for other museums around the world. This culture of fearless experimentation enables our museum to adapt and thrive in a changing world.