Though the Laguna Art Museum is more than a century old, Executive Director Julie Perlin Lee likes to refer to it as her “105-year-old startup.”
Reopening the museum after the pandemic-forced closures was challenging, she said.
“It was really, really difficult to kind of rev it back up all over again,” Perlin Lee told the Business Journal.
But thanks to the support of Orange County donors, the museum is growing with an operational budget of $3.5 million, up from $2.8 million in 2021. Major contributors such as the McBeth Foundation, Segerstrom Foundation, Croul Family Foundation, The Donald and Constance Sperling Foundation and Laguna Beach-based WCM Investment Management have helped the museum double its visits to over 60,000 since it reopened after the pandemic shutdown.
Executive Director
Laguna Art Museum
“Those folks have been incredibly generous in just listening to what our needs are, and our needs were to really serve more children and to serve more families and to bring more education into the museum,” Perlin Lee said.
Donations help pay for key educational programming including covering the costs of transportation and entry fees for visiting students.
“Youth education is something that our donors love to support over anything else,” she said.
Later this year, the museum plans to honor Jennifer and Anton Segerstrom at its flagship philanthropic event, Directors Circle Dinner and Awards Night for their support of Orange County arts.
“The Segerstroms have a long relationship with Laguna Art Museum,” said Perlin Lee, who held prior roles at Bowers Museum and Catalina Island Museum.
She said contributions made by the Segerstroms, along with other donors, allowed the museum this year to offer free admission to every person age 19 and younger. Before this year, they only offered free admission, normally $15, to children 12 and under.
New funding secured through Supervisor Katrina Foley’s office will allow the museum to offer free admission in November.
“Orange County is extremely fortunate to have people who care about the arts,” she said.
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