Two of SI’s own are among top 50 “museum influencers”
Adam Rozan and Jorge Zamanillo have been named to the “Blooloop 50” of significant museum influencers around the world. The Blooloop 50 celebrates the work of fifty key individuals whose creativity, passion and drive has helped shape and improve the industry.
In increasingly turbulent times, the world’s museums, science centers, art galleries and cultural institutions play an ever more vital role in engaging visitors with today’s key issues from climate change to politics. As trust in the media, politicians and government organizations erodes, museums remain a bastion of society’s knowledge and creativity in a post-truth world.
Blooloop.com, the world’s most-read news source for visitor attraction professionals, has partnered with Barco, a global leader in developing networked visualization solutions for museums and cultural attractions, to create the fourth annual Blooloop 50 Museum Influencer list, highlighting key individuals whose innovation and creativity have been integral to developing today’s museums.
Adam Rozan
Director of Programs and Audience Development
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Adam Rozan
Adam Rozan is the director of programs and audience development at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. He has held many museum roles, working at institutions including the Oakland Museum of California, Harvard Art Museums, Boston Children’s Museum, and Boston’s Museum of Science. Before joining the Smithsonian, Rozan was director of audience engagement at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts.
Rozan is widely recognized as an audience-engagement innovator, a champion of change, and an advocate for visitors. He teaches an audience engagement seminar at the Harvard University extension school’s museum studies program, for which he is an advisory board member. Additionally, Rozan is a founding member of the International Audience Engagement network and lectures on the topic across the world. Recently, he implemented an ongoing series of talks, the Smithsonian Staff Learning Series, that brings Smithsonian staff together with leaders in the arts, sciences, business, and media who offer insights into the latest research, cultural, and lifestyle trends to help us better engage our audiences, wherever they may be.
Opened in January 1964 as the National Museum of History and Technology, the National Museum of American History is responsible for the acquisition, care and preservation of more than 1.7 million objects and 22,000 feet of archival documents. These represent the nation’s heritage in the areas of science, technology, society and culture.
Jorge Zamanillo
Founding Director
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino
Jorge Zamanillo
Jorge Zamanillo is the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress established in December 2020. While the Smithsonian evaluates possible locations for the new institution, Zamanillo is providing leadership and strategic direction. In addition, he is steering the museum’s plan to preserve, document, display, interpret and promote knowledge of US Latino history, art and culture. Zamanillo and museum staff are integrating and building on programmes previously overseen by the Smithsonian Latino Center and working on new museum collaborations, digital resources, exhibitions and fundraising.
“It is an honor to be chosen to lead the development of this museum as the founding director,” Zamanillo said. “The Latino experience is American history, and I want to make sure our story will be preserved for future generations. This museum will celebrate Latino accomplishments and resiliency through powerful stories that capture the adversity faced over centuries by Latinos in the US and their perseverance to move forward and create a legacy.”
In June 2022, the new museum opened the Molina Family Latino Gallery, its first gallery for Latino history and culture, at the National Museum of American History. “It will take 10 to 12 years to open a museum building, but the gallery gives the public a preview of the museum’s potential,” said Zamanillo.
Before joining the Smithsonian, Zamanillo was executive director and CEO of HistoryMiami Museum. In this role, he managed the daily operations and led a $45m expansion project that more than doubled the size of the museum. Before joining HistoryMiami Museum, Zamanillo was an archaeologist at the non-profit cultural resource management firm Archaeological and Historical Conservancy in Miami. He currently serves as the vice chair and board member of the American Alliance of Museums.
“Jorge’s accomplishments at HistoryMiami Museum highlight his commitment to exploring the full sweep of the American story by bringing to life the complex and profound narratives of Latinos in the United States,” said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. “His transformational leadership will be invaluable as we build this necessary museum from the ground up, helping us create a robust, dynamic, responsive museum that exemplifies what a 21st-century cultural institution should be.”
This is an edited version of reporting first published by Blooloop.com. Reprinted with permission.
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Posted: 24 October 2023
