A new face is taking over as Museum Director of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
Beth Weigel, according to a release from the City and Borough of Juneau Monday, was named director of the museum and said she is looking forward to jumping right in her new role.
“I am learning a lot,” Weigel said in a phone interview with the Empire Monday. “I am excited to take on this role and honored to be entrusted to take over this beloved institution. I am excited to meet the new people working here who make this place run and who care about this place.”
Weigel started Monday in her new role replacing former Director Jane Lindsey, who retired after 18 years working at the museum.
“Jane has done a lot to make this a place that involves thinking outside the museum walls,” Weigel said. “There are a lot of spaces in the community that the museum can interpret and present cultural heritage on.”
Weigel has been the Juneau Public Libraries Program Coordinator since September 2013. In that role she brought many authors and other grant funded programs to Juneau, worked closely with the libraries’ Youth Services and built relationships with a wide range of partners locally, state-wide and around the country.
Prior to the library, Weigel was Executive Director for Discovery Southeast. Weigel holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Denver and has been an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Alaska Southeast for 18 years.
Weigel said she was attracted to the position because of what a museum means to a community and because she was encouraged by Lindsey.
“I really love storytelling and we think about history and and how we live our lives,” Weigel said. “That is the most interesting part of the museum world to me.”
Going forward, Weigel said she would like to help increase Tlingit language learning around the community and help education problems. She would also like to see more community members active at the museum.
“It is really the community’s story,” Weigel said. “This is their museum and I want people who are part of the community to be part of the museum.”
• Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.
