Quick Take
Veteran curators and arts administrators Laura Henkel and Ginger Shulick Porcella have emerged as the final two candidates to fill the position of executive director at the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, to replace outgoing director Robb Woulfe.
The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History has narrowed down the search for its next leader to two. And this week, the public had the chance to engage each candidate with an hourlong presentation on Zoom.
On Tuesday, community members got to meet the first of the two candidates, Laura Henkel, the founder and managing director of Sin City Gallery in Las Vegas as well as the erotica/sexuality festival 12 Inches of Sin.
On Wednesday, leading her own hourlong virtual presentation was the other candidate, Ginger Shulick Porcella, a curator and art consultant who has served as the executive director of Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, Arizona.
In her presentation, Henkel shared her vision of the MAH in terms of “market differentiation,” a marketing term that essentially calls for an organization to create a unique personality to break through the noise of the marketplace.
Henkel is known, she said, for her big, bold eyeglasses, and she used them to illustrate her point: “I have really big glasses. I love my glasses. I’m comfortable in them. More than likely, you’re going to remember me from my glasses. This is what I want to do for MAH. How do we get in the minds of everyone that they need to participate and recommend us to everyone they know because we’re so wonderful?”
Among her suggestions was a redesign of the MAH website, revamping the museum’s hours and a hike in the museum’s price for admission, from $10 general admission for non-members to $25 — though she added that locals would not have to pay that new rate, which would be aimed at tourists and out-of-the-area visitors.
“We’re just as good as any other museum in the state, if not the country,” she said. “I feel that.”
Henkel is also a writer and a photographer. She has published books on the fine-arts business, focusing on arts management and entrepreneurship. But much of her career has been centered on explorations of erotic art and sexual fantasy. “The complexity of this type of visual art,” reads a manifesto of the 12 Inches of Sin festival, “often causes scandal, protest, outrage or shock.” She is also active in the field of erotic art appraisals to determine the valuation of rare or vintage materials.
But, in responding to a question about how her interest in erotic art might intersect with the MAH’s programming under her direction, Henkel said, “I don’t see it intersecting.”
Ginger Shulick Porcella, the MAH’s other candidate for executive director, talked about growing up in rural Illinois and a 20-year career in the arts that has allowed her to travel across the country. “I had never even set foot in a museum until I was in college. I just didn’t have the financial or physical means to access one,” she said.
Porcella emphasized her work with Native American artists and tribal communities, and her desire to ensure that underrepresented communities see themselves as part of the museum’s mission. “I’ve made it my mission to use my privilege and platform as a museum director to amplify the voices of queer, trans and artists and curators of color,” she said.
Porcella said that her most gratifying project was the 4Ground Biennial in Minnesota, a festival focusing on land art designed to raise awareness of land and water issues. One local link to the 4Ground Biennial is the participation of Santa Cruz-based artists and sexual renegades Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens. Porcella also has ties to the area through her husband’s family, who are linked to the Croatian community that settled in Watsonville.
“I give off big Virgo energy,” she said, “and I’m equally left- and right-brained. I’m a big-picture thinker, but I have a deep understanding of all the tiny details that go into making that big picture happen.”
In contrast to her competitor, Porcella said that it was her goal “to get an underwriter for admissions so that the museum is free and open to everyone for perpetuity.”
The two candidates had much in common. For instance, both brought up the idea of a live fashion show at the MAH. And both mentioned activating and supporting the creativity of the museum staff.
Either Henkel or Porcella will replace former MAH executive director Robb Woulfe, who shepherded the museum through the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic before resigning his position in May. Longtime staffer Marla Novo has been serving as interim director since Woulfe’s departure. The MAH plans to have a new executive director in place by early 2025.
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