Nina Simon

Nina Simon is sort of a spiritual discipline of Kathy McLean, in innovative ways of thinking about museum experiences, particularly in making them participatory, whether they take place inside of or outside of the museum. She’s written 2 books on the topic,The Art of Relevance and The Participatory Museum. Simon is a frequent public speaker, and her blog, “Museum 2.0” has a huge following. She has been described as a “museum visionary” by Smithsonian Magazine for her audience-centered approach to design. She is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, and has consulted with hundreds of international museums, libraries, parks, historic sites, art and cultural centers on issues of relevance, community engagement, and participatory design. Her work has been shared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NPR, and TEDx. She lives off the grid in the Santa Cruz mountains with fourteen people, twenty-seven chickens, five dogs, and one zipline.