by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Over the course of the past decade, Maria Hane (rhymes with rain) has worked for Mayor John Delaney and the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. A week ago Monday, she started a job she believes is the kind of job you spend 20 years doing.
Hane was named president — although she prefers executive director — of the Museum of Science & History on the Southbank. In MOSH, Hane inherits a museum most everyone knows a little about but also one that not many know a lot about. She takes over at a time when generating new business and raising the funds to create new attractions may prove difficult. The 1999 University of North Florida graduate is sure she can capitalize on her background in Delaney’s administration and her five years on the operational side of the Cummer.
“The museum is stable,” said Hane, just a few days into the job. “Especially in this economy, it’s fiscally stable. Even if you didn’t come here as a kid, you knew it was here. It’s a cultural icon and the growth has been at a steady, healthy pace.”
The museum was built 45 years ago and has been added on to numerous times over the years. Those additions have taken their toll structurally. Hane said two of her top objectives are to replace the roof system in order to make the entire building water tight and also find the funding to purchase a star projector for the museum’s planetarium.
“It’s an amazing star projector, but it’s 22 years old,” she said. “It works, but we have a limited number of programs and means a limited number of audiences.”
Hane threw her name into the hat for the job when former MOSH Executive Director Margo Dundon passed away. A search committee interviewed several candidates and ultimately selected Hane.
MOSH Board Chair Dori Walton said Hane was the right choice for the job.
“Maria’s demonstrated leadership skills over the past 15 years with the Cummer and Mayor John Delaney will help MOSH reposition itself as a premier cultural and educational institution in Northeast Florida,” said Walton.
“We are please to have Maria’s experience and leadership at MOSH,” said John Magevney, MOSH vice chair. “We look forward to having her build the strong foundation of MOSH and lead the museum into its next phase.”
Magevney said Hane will be formally introduced to the community in October when “Animal Grossology” opens at the MOSH.
Hane said one of the keys to keeping current customers and attracting new will be to assure the exhibits are fresh and appeal to various audiences of all ages and interests.
The museum employs about 34 people full-time, but any given day, especially during the summer, there are several interns from the Jacksonville Urban League who help escort kids groups through the museum. In addition to the ever popular dinosaur exhibit and the planetarium, MOSH features an aquatic display, a detailed display on the human body and several live animals including snakes, turtles and lizards.
While MOSH has a marketing department, Hane realizes she’s now the face of the museum. Over the course of the next several months, she’ll get in front of the area’s civic groups to generate interest and reacquaint Jacksonville with a museum many haven’t been to in years or perhaps never at all. Fundraising is also key to developing new exhibits and programs, but that won’t happen immediately.
“We have a base audience and visitorship is up and people love those dinosaurs,” she said, adding there’s a need to reach a broad audience. “We need to remind people we are here. We want to strengthen and broaden our base, but there will be no major fundraising this year.”
Hane said she plans to stay at MOSH for a while. Although she was raised in Gainesville, Hane said she remembers trips to MOSH as a child.
“This is the kind of job you keep for a long time,” she said. “I am not a job hopper. I get very invested in a job. Leaving the Cummer was hard. I basically raised my kids there.
“By the second or third year, you can really effectively make a difference.”
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