Before she even landed the job of CEO and director of the Orange County Museum of Art, Heidi Zuckerman knew she wanted to honor not only the museum’s female founders but also the women artists whose work over 60 years became integral to the in-house collection.

Zuckerman said as much two years ago while interviewing with museum board members for the high-profile position of guiding the new $93 million museum under construction at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

When asked what she would most like to curate from OCMA’s private collection, Zuckerman sketched out her idea for “13 Women.”

She got the job, and “13 Women” is set for the Oct. 8 grand opening and re-invention of an art institution that has called several places home, starting with a modest, rented corner back in 1962 at the Balboa Pavilion in Newport Harbor.

From that beginning, the OCMA collection has focused on artists from California and the Pacific Rim.

The inaugural exhibition at the new two-story building will draw throughout the next year from a deep vein of rotating pieces by women artists active from the ’60s to the present.

Despite hurdles imposed by the pandemic and subsequent disruptions in the supply chain and labor pool, the museum is expected to open on time and on budget.

For that twin accomplishment – and standout features that include a rooftop terrace, free general admission the first decade, a “plant-forward” café, free lunch for children who visit, and other community outreach aimed at broader inclusiveness – Zuckerman credits another group of 13 women.

These decisionmakers and stewards of the museum, including Zuckerman, are multicultural, multigenerational and multitalented, much like the artists to be featured in the “13 Women” exhibition.

And their dedication and high level of collaboration mirrors that of the 13 museum founders.

“That’s how we got to the finish line,” said Jennifer Segerstrom, one of Zuckerman’s 13 women. Married to  Anton Segerstrom, she is a force of nature when it comes to supporting the arts.

Putting women at the forefront was both intentional as Zuckerman assembled her executive team, but also a testament to the progress women have made in the construction, architecture and executive leadership realms that historically have been so male dominated.

Zuckerman brought the 13 women together recently to highlight their unsung work and underscore the unique opportunity the museum has presented to showcase the skills of accomplished women.

Women of The Orange County Museum of Art; Lynn Uyeda, new CFO of OCMA, back row from left, Heidi Zuckerman CEO and Director, Kelsey Nemirov, development director, Carrie Maurath, director of sales and events, Meaghan Burger, director of learning and education, Lisa Merage, board member and gala co-chair, – Lucy Sun, incoming Board Chair, Jennifer Segerstrom, gala chair, Jane S. Parry, project executive Clark Construction, Sarah Cain, artist in collection, right. And, seated, Alyssa McDiarmid, general manager of Verdant the museum’s cafe, left, – Crystal Wang, Project architect Morphosis, and Courtenay Finn, Chief Curator, right, on the staircase of their new building in Costa Mesa, CA, on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Crystal Wang, project architect from Morphosis Architects, the Culver City-based firm that designed the OCMA building, appreciates the recognition.

“For years, there have been women in these positions and roles on similar projects,” she acknowledged, “but they’re not often highlighted.”

The group recently posed for a photo – dressed in agreed-upon neutral tones – and conversed collegially on the sweeping steps of the museum’s outdoor public stairs, even as the noise of a power drill finishing touches on the museum droned loudly in the late afternoon. Some have worked together more closely on the museum project, some know each other in passing amid the construction or by reputation.

After the photo, Zuckerman gave them a private tour of the “13 Women” exhibit inside.

Given past experiences in their chosen professions and other aspects of life, the chance to raise their voices and not only be heard but listened to as the building and plans for museum programs have developed struck the 13 women as unique and refreshing.

Really, more than that, said Alyssa McDiarmid, general manager of Verdant, the museum’s café.

“It was a selling point for me,” said McDiarmid, a former general manager and wine buyer for the celebrated French restaurant Marché Moderne.

“This sort of feminine presence … It’s profound, for sure.”

Changemakers by design

About half the 13 women highlighted by Zuckerman pre-date her arrival in February 2021, with the rest specifically recruited by her. They are running the point in fundraising and finances, design and construction, governance, program and events planning, daily operations, and the curation and creation of art for what is a world-class museum.

Some are there all day, every day; others a few times a week. Key among them are Wang of Morphosis and Jane S. Parry, project executive from Clark Construction. Both women are in their 30s, live in the Los Angeles area, and are raising young children. Wang has a 4-year-old daughter and Parry’s son is 2.

Wang has worked with Morphosis since 2016, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who knew she wanted to be an architect since she was 10. She said this is the first time she’s worked on a museum, which also happens to be the first fine arts museum undertaken by Morphosis (in 2007, Morphosis  founder Thom Mayne won the competition for the design). It’s her full-time project.

While her industry has evolved, Wang said this project has been notable for the number of women involved on the design team, the construction team and the ownership team. Visitors she’s taken on tours of the site, such as from the American Institute of Architects, have noticed that female presence.

“They’ve commented to me how lovely it was to see women on both sides of the aisle, especially in the construction and architectural world.”

One of the tougher challenges for Wang as part of a working couple came at the height of the pandemic and the loss of childcare.

“It was a tough juggle,” she said of parenting a toddler at home and working sporadically as contractors called throughout the day. “I was up late burning the midnight oil to maintain and stay on top of what needed to be reviewed for construction.”

As with any project, there have been rocky moments, she acknowledged.

“But in general, it’s been smooth. You know that women are listening on the other side. I think women tend to not dismiss things so easily,” she said. “There’s this deeper level of collaboration because of the contributions of so many women.”

Parry’s experience has been similar. An art history major at Johns Hopkins University, she decided to get her master’s degree in architecture, also at Cal Poly Pomona. She’s been with Clark Construction, headquartered in Irvine, for nine years.

Zuckerman drew laughter from the other women when she said that “Jane tells everyone on this project what to do.” But that description is spot on: Parry oversees the work of 12 members of the Clark team, 42 subcontractors and an average workforce of 135 laborers over the past year.

At first, she put in 12-hour days. The birth of her son changed that; now she tries to leave at 4 p.m. to be at home with him. As an art major, she sees her involvement with OCMA as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At Clark, she said, “we talk all the time about how the building is going to house art, but the building itself is art.”

Clark employs a good percentage of women, Parry said. At least 40% of the team she leads – including as many as four engineers managing some of the trades – are women. She found it “refreshing and new” to work with a client that “seemed happy to know the construction manager was a woman.”

Again, collaboration has stood out.

“There’s been a real willingness to work together toward a common goal,” she said, “not pointing fingers, ‘This person is working on this and this person is working on that.’

“Between the curatorial staff, the museum and some of the stakeholders, and our team figuring out the problems together, focused on the end goal, that has seemed unique to me.”

Strong backing

Jennifer Segerstrom has teamed with Lisa Merage, who will be moving from board secretary to vice president next year, to raise money for the museum. A $2.5 million gift announced last year from Lugano Diamonds in Newport Beach made possible the 10 years of free admission. The gala Segerstrom and Merage co-chaired in 2021 netted $1 million, held at a time when coronavirus infection remained a spectre. This year, for an Oct. 1 gala, the goal has been set at $1.5 million.

Zuckerman is feeling confident: “No doubt, we’ll exceed it.”

She credits Segerstrom for being “the first person who told me anything I needed to know.” Merage served on the museum’s search committee in the fall of 2020 and heard Zuckerman talk about her vision for the “13 Women” exhibition. Zuckerman considers Merage another “secret weapon of mine.”

Segerstrom said there is no other component of the Segerstrom arts campus – which includes the Segerstrom Hall, the Samueli Theater, and the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall – with so many women in charge. “The museum presented a wonderful opportunity to re-do some things,” she said.

Zuckerman honed a reputation as an innovator and expert in contemporary art over the 14 years she led the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, preceded by stints at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and the Jewish Museum in New York. The departure in July 2020 of former OCMA director Todd D. Smith created the opening she eagerly stepped into.

Why Orange County? Partly because of the museum’s female roots.

“I wanted to come here because 60 years ago, 13 audacious women decided they wanted to bring culture to Orange County,” Zuckerman said. She cherishes a black-and-white photo of the women founders up on ladders preparing the original space.

Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot in the museum’s own historical archives about the founding members. Some insight can be gleaned from articles in news publications, including one 1987 piece that referred to nearly all of them using the title “Mrs.” followed by their husbands’ names.

The women who established what was then called the Balboa Pavilion Gallery were Dottie Ahmanson, Joan Brandt, Thelma Chastain, Em Crary, Dorothe Curtis, Kay Farwell, Ailene Hays, Judy Hurndall, Gloria Irvine, Jane Lawson, Betty Mickle, Flo Stoddard, Betty Winckler. The last of them died in 2021; some of their children and grandchildren are expected to attend the museum’s 24-hour opening affair.

Lucy Sun, a museum board member among Zuckerman’s power group, noted how most museums have been founded by men and directed by men.

“For these 13 enterprising women to take it upon themselves to create this museum, I think that was a small revolution,” said Sun, who served two decades in investment banking with Goldman Sachs in London and New York before retiring 20 years ago. Often, she was the only woman in the room.

A lover of art from a young age, Sun earned a graduate degree in art from the University of London while working overseas. Sun, who lives in Newport Coast, became involved with OCMA first as a visitor and then a special collections donor. She joined the board a year ago and is poised to lead the museum directors at the start of the new year.

Sun has made it her mission to broaden and diversify membership of the governing board, which now numbers 38, the most in its history. Of those members, 16% are people of color and more than 50% are women.

Sun’s aim is to continue broadening museum leadership as OCMA strives to engage the diverse communities of Orange County.

“I feel a great responsibility for this museum, this magnificent enterprise that we are all involved in.”

Stellar staff

To continue the legacy of the 13 founders, Zuckerman brought along women who worked with her in Aspen: Kelsey Nemirov as development director, Courtenay Finn as chief curator, and Meaghan Burger, director of learning and education. She “stole” her director of sales and events, Carrie Maurath, from the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum.

The last piece in Zuckerman’s all-female executive team fell in place with the August hiring of Chief Financial Officer Lynne Uyeda from among hundreds of applicants. Uyeda’s experience includes the top financial position at the South Coast Repertory some two decades ago, Zuckerman said.

“I am interested in an inclusive and collaborative leadership style and including voices that have often been ignored,” Zuckerman said.

Zuckerman said she operates under the theme of “look back to move forward.” That’s also what the “13 Women” exhibition will reflect.

The artists featured in the initial rotation are a diverse group by age, ethnicity and style: Alice Aycock, Joan Brown, Lee Bul, Lucy Bull, Sarah Cain, Vija Celmins, Mary Corse, Mary Heilmann, Barbara Kruger, Cady Noland, Catherine Opie, Hilary Pecis and Agnes Pelton.

In addition to being among the “13 Women” artistically and in Zuckerman’s group of 13, Cain, an American contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, also was tapped to create a site-specific wall painting that visitors will encounter at the front of the museum’s Avenue of the Arts gallery.

Zuckerman called it a “talisman” for OCMA. Much like the aura of the 13 founders.

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