LAM appoints Victoria Gerard as Deputy Director

Laguna Art Museum has announced the appointment of Victoria Zagarino Gerard to the new role of Deputy Director. Gerard, who most recently served as Vice President of Programs and Collections at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, will assume her new role on September 7. 

At LAM she will work with the team to bolster the strategic goals of the museum, to strengthen the museum’s service to the public, and to grow the financial security of the museum by creating and managing earned revenue sources.

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Victoria Zagarino Gerard 

Gerard is a proven leader with years of experience in museum management, program and exhibition development, and research. As Vice President of Programs and Collections at the Bowers Museum, she organized a diverse schedule of special exhibitions by establishing partnerships with museums and organizations around the world.

Gerard also oversaw work related to the museum’s permanent collection, and built partnerships with parents, schools, and adult service organizations to offer a range of virtual and onsite learning opportunities that expanded the cultural knowledge and understanding of people of all ages. She is most proud of the fact that her leadership supported the Bowers Museum through the COVID-19 pandemic as she built a virtual museum from the ground up. 

“I am proud to join the team at the Laguna Art Museum,” said Gerard. “I am energized by the museum’s deep roots in the community and the meaningful and important contributions it has made to the appreciation of California art throughout its history. It is a delight to continue to contribute to Orange County’s rich cultural landscape via this new role.”

Gerard holds a MA in Arts Management from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Public History and History from Villanova University where she developed an expertise in early American and Federalist period material culture through her studies as well as opportunities at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Penn., and Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Mass.