Heidi Zuckerman grew up surrounded by art, as her grandmother was an avid collector and traveler. However, it wasn’t until her junior year at University of Pennsylvania that she realized she wanted to pursue a career in the arts.
Zuckerman stumbled into a downtown Philadelphia art gallery after a disagreement with her college boyfriend. She was mesmerized by the two-dimensional works.
“I just started doing a close reading of the works,” she told the Business Journal. “I fell into them visually. I got so intrigued. I lost track of time. I felt different. I felt better.”
In that moment, she understood that art could change someone’s life or perspective.
Instead of pursuing a law degree, much to her parents’ chagrin, she pivoted her studies and never looked back.
Today, Zuckerman, chief executive and director of the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), has a long history in the art world. Before launching the new OCMA location in Costa Mesa, she managed the Aspen Art Museum from 2005 to 2019 and was a planning consultant at Beirut Museum of Art. She also hosts a podcast called “About Art” and authored two books – the series “Conversations About Art” and “Why Art Matters: The Bearable Lightness of Being.”
Last year, Zuckerman was among five executives recognized at the Business Journal’s 2023 Women in Business Awards event. She was honored for overseeing the 2022 opening of the $94 million OCMA at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The museum opened with a 24-hour festival that attracted 10,000 visitors. Zuckerman also secured a $3.5 million donation from Newport Beach-based Lugano Diamonds to ensure free admission for the museum’s first decade.
In its first year, the museum logged about 250,000 visitors and is on track this year to do roughly the same. To date, OCMA has served more than 445,000 visitors, she said.
Historically, new museums see an attendance bump in their first year, followed by a drop of up to 60% in the second year.
Maintaining OCMA’s first-year momentum is thrilling, Zuckerman noted.
“It’s totally unprecedented for a U.S. museum,” she said.
Fashion Forward
Along with offering free admission, Zuckerman attributes the museum’s soaring attendance to expanded programming and its debut of a fashion exhibit in 2024.
The “Yves Saint Laurent: Line and Expression” exhibit launched earlier this year and runs through October. The exhibit features pieces from Yves Saint Laurent’s museums in Paris and Marrakech, as well as a loan from the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.
The collection also features the designer’s fashion illustrations.
Zuckerman said she was inspired to bring the designer’s artwork to OCMA after seeing the drawings at a museum in Morocco in early 2023.
“Sculptors make drawings and painters make drawings, but most fashion designers don’t,” she said. “So, I was really taken by the idea of being able to show these incredible dresses with these incredible drawings.”
Date Night
The museum has also doubled its family programs this year, including a popular “BYOB” (Bring Your Own Baby) day, which Zuckerman said resonates with parents.
“I remember when I was a young mom. You’re isolated sometimes, particularly if you have had a career and then you find yourself at home,” she said. “This is a way to get out of the house and interact with other caregivers, other parents.”
School tours have also doubled, with approximately 3,400 students visiting the museum so far in 2024.
OCMA is also gaining a reputation as a date-night spot, particularly for people meeting through online dating apps. Zuckerman said couples feel the museum is a “safe place” to meet and “show that you’re cultured.”
“I think that we are the best date location in Orange County,” she said. “The galleries are always filled with people holding hands.”
Though admission is free, Zuckerman introduced a ticketing system this year to collect guest data.
“We really want to know exactly who’s coming, so we’ve been collecting emails,” she said.
Ultimately, she said the museum is thriving because locals are eager for an aesthetic experience.
“I think the secret sauce is a couple of different things. I mean, one, of course, is that we have free general admission courtesy of Lugano Diamonds,” she said. “We think it’s also the fact that Orange County has been starved for visual culture.”
