Heidi Zuckerman to step down from Orange County Museum of Art’s exec role

Heidi Zuckerman — who helmed the transition of the Orange County Museum of Art from a regional exhibition space to a capstone institution in Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts — announced this week she will step down as chief executive in December.

The Laguna Beach resident plans to focus on HZ Inc., a media platform she created in 2019 and through which she has created 166 installments of the podcast “About Art,” probing the insight, minds and lives of makers and curators of art.

“I have the highest degree of respect for the institution and am its biggest cheerleader,” Zuckerman said of OCMA in an interview Thursday, adding that she will offer her assistance as the board conducts a search for her successor. “I am staying in the community and will continue to support museums however I can.”

Heidi Zuckerman, OCMA’s 13th director since 1962, will step down at the end of the year to focus on her media platform and the podcast “About Art.”

(Orange County Museum of Art)

Her decision comes as she nears the end of a five-year contract with the nonprofit organization that, in 2021, brought her to Orange County following an earlier stint as head of the Aspen Art Museum, where she led a similar architectural transformation seven years earlier.

Officials broke the news in a release Wednesday, praising Zuckerman as a trailblazer who significantly contributed a “legacy of institutional growth, impactful exhibitions, free access to art and community engagement that has solidified the museum’s position as a premier cultural destination.”

“Her dedication to bringing world-class exhibitions and thought-provoking programming to our community has elevated OCMA to unprecedented heights,” David Emmes II, chair of the museum’s board of trustees said.

“Though it is always bittersweet when someone decides to embark on a new chapter, we are excited to witness the great strides Heidi will continue to make in expanding access to the arts.”

Guests crowd the entrance of the Orange County Museum of Art on opening day, October 8, 2022. Since then more than 500,000 visitors have visited the museum at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

(Orange County Museum of Art)

Since the 53,000-square-foot museum, designed by Morphosis Architects under Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne, opened to the public in October 2022, the site has welcomed more than 500,000 visitors and has vowed to offer free admission for its first 10 years there, thanks to a donation from Newport Beach’s Lugano Diamonds.

Zuckerman, who has long advocated for expanding public access to the arts, says she has been heartened to see the public’s embrace of the museum, not only as a place where people can have transformative experiences with art, but as an important community gathering space.

“From the very beginning, I’ve said everyone is welcome, and I think we’ve done a great job of making people feel welcome here,” she said, describing the museum as a place where people can draw inspiration, find solace or connect with others.

“This is really one of the few places in contemporary society where people who have different values, different practices and approaches can literally rub shoulders with each other.”

Orange County Museum of Art in Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts in 2022. Museum officials said they wanted to create a space where people can visit together, find solace and be inspired by art.

(File Photo)