RICH CHERRY

Hi, I’m Rich Cherry, A non-profit leader, skilled in building design, construction, operations, technology, and all things digital and Conference Co-Chair at MuseWeb

I offer consulting services through Museum Operations, that leverages my own 2 decades of leadership experience in museums and non-profits and 3 decades of technology and operations experience along with an extensive network of consultants from all areas of museum operations. I have served as an executive director, COO, deputy director, CTO and CIO at several world-class organizations. I have run and revitalized existing institutions and designed and built new museums and non-profits from the ground up and have overseen more than $400 million in construction and capital projects and assisted on additional projects totaling more than a billion dollars. My work as co-chair of the largest museum technology conference and as co-editor of its proceedings gives me unique access to colleagues working at the forefront of innovation in the cultural sector.

Museum Operations, Culver City, CA | Managing Partner, 2016 - Present

I am the founder and managing partner at Museum Operations, a consultancy focused on the start-up, operations, and construction of new museums, cultural organizations, and projects intended to have a significant impact on the museum field. Museum Operations assists clients who are implementing world-class public architecture projects, as well as those who seek strategic thinking and planning support around operations, technology, and museum practice. Projects have included (in date order with more recent first):

Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA: Acting as owners’ representative for the demolition, redesign, and re-construction of a major permanent exhibition gallery.

Major Contemporary Art Museum, USA: Acted as owners’ representative for the design of a $120 million expansion, including developing the program, interfacing with and managing the architect and design team, leading design charrettes, researching alternative options, selecting a general contractor, developing budget estimates, analyzing the operational budget impact, developing presentations for the director to present to the funder including editing renders and supervising designers developing presentation content.  The project is on hold due to the pandemic.

Armenian American Museum, Glendale, CA: Design and operations planning support for a new museum

Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE: Providing strategic planning and organizational consulting, including developing a strategic plan, evaluating staff skills and abilities, aligning current staffing with current needs, troubleshooting human resource, finance, marketing, and collection issues, and developing tactics to support the rapid growth of the organization while ensuring staff have growth opportunities.

The Broad, Los Angeles, CA: Acting as owners’ representative for the construction of a new plaza, ongoing operational support including budget analysis, assisting in hiring searches, development of job descriptions.

CompoundLB, Long Beach, CA: Assisted a local philanthropist in creating a new cultural center in Long Beach, including developing the program and services, assisting in space selection and design, operational planning, proforma budget development, developing job descriptions, assisting in finding and vetting service providers for food service, retail, assist in finding curatorial services and ran the executive director search.

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL: Assisting in the post-construction review of Audio-Visual infrastructure and documenting un-resolved issues, conduct a detailed audit and evaluation of the Information Technology team and its operations resulting in the restructuring of the IT team.

Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA: Operations planning support for the new museum.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, CA: Assisted in search for a founding chief technology officer.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum, Los Angeles, CA: I was recruited to the project to fix major construction issues. I was Interim COO, with multiple reporting lines including to the director of the museum, as well as directly to the board of governors (BOG), Kathy Kennedy, chair of the museum subcommittee, and the CEO of the Academy of Motion Pictures, which was the primary funder of both construction and operations.  My primary role, in the beginning, was overseeing the construction of a $425 Mil project and resolving major construction schedule and budget issues.

Solutions included replacing the general contractor (GC) and developing a realistic budget and schedule projections.

I worked closely with in-house and construction counsel to develop a plan to replace the GC, selected a new GC, and negotiating an amicable transition. After successfully getting the museum project back on track, my role expanded. I was tasked with taking over leadership of the $50 mil core exhibition project, which had similar issues and had languished for 18 months without a design that met the expectations of the BOG.  Solutions included restructuring the internal team and replacing the external exhibit designer.  Working closely with Rick Carter, the Oscar-winning production designer of Avatar and Lincoln, and a team of visual effects designers from Industrial Light and Magic, we developed a detailed exhibit plan over a two-month period.  At a special BOG meeting, after we presented a 400-slide deck including 15 minutes of fly-through animation, the project received overwhelming BOG support.  Simultaneously to these projects, I developed plans for museum start-up operations, developed, and received approval for start-up budgets, hired a very diverse operations team, and helped obtain a $7 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies for Digital Engagement, and oversaw the hosting of a major donor dinner at the construction site.  A major portion of the role was accomplishing the task above while navigating the political complexities of multiple reporting lines within a museum overseen by a complex organization with a very high public profile, with 52 board members from 17 branches representing 7000+ members, plus a museum subcommittee, a budget subcommittee, its own senior staff, and numerous internal and board factions, many unauthorized leaks to the press in addition to a separate museum board and the museum’s senior management team.

Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum expansion project, Buffalo, NY: The Albright-Knox Art Gallery was in the process of a $155 Million museum expansion, which aims to enhance the visitor experience, increase the number of artworks on display, and integrate the museum with Delaware Park, a Frederick Law Olmsted Parkway. Working with the Executive Committee and senior museum staff, we first provided design support services and then full owner representative services for the project, including three full-time onsite staff.

The Broad/ Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA | Founding Deputy Director, 07/12 - 01/17

I was the deputy director of The Broad, an award-winning contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles. The museum opened to rave reviews in 2015 and immediately joined the list of the top 75 most attended art museums in the world. I oversaw all aspects of the museum’s operations, including operations, human resources, technology, finance, facilities, security, marketing, collections management, and visitor services. Prior to the museum’s opening, I managed the planning, design, and construction of the $200 million museum, its parking structure, and adjacent outdoor plaza and streetscape. I also hired the staff for the opening, and developed and implemented a plan for daily operations. In working with the museum team to design The Broad as an innovative visitor experience, I also initiated and implemented the museum’s mobile ticketing and mobile retail, and a mobile audio app with contextually-aware content. As well, I designed and implemented an award-winning visitor service floor staff program that utilized a custom-designed online learning management system to train a diverse team of associates in security, customer service, art and architecture.

MuseWeb, Culver City, CA | Partner, 09/11 - Present

I am co-chair, managing partner and co-owner of MuseWeb (formerly Museums and the Web).  Celebrating its 25th year, MuseWeb (MW) is the largest annual international technology and innovation conference in the museum sector. MW’s delegates—more than 800 per year from more than 40 countries—explore the social, cultural, design, technological, economic, and organizational issues of museums in a digital world, reviewing and analyzing the issues and impacts of networked cultural, natural, and scientific heritage. I am also co-editor and publisher of the conference print proceedings, a 300-page volume, representing the best digital work of the year in museums from around the world and highlighting the use of new technologies in the museum context.

Culver City Cultural Affairs Commission, Culver City, CA | Commissioner, 07/15 - 7/17

As a Cultural Affairs Commissioner, I supported the Commission’s mandate, acting in an advisory capacity to the City Council on matters pertaining to the enrichment of the community through visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, arts education, historic preservation, and cultural issues and served as an advocate for cultural activities and programs within the City. I focused particularly on public art, historic preservation, and the economic impact of the creative industries on Culver City.

Benbough Foundation: Balboa Park Online Collaborative Project, San Diego, CA | Founding Director, 03/09 - 5/12

As the Founding Director of the Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC), a collaborative of 27 museums, cultural institutions, sciences centers and performing arts organizations. I facilitated collaborations and acted as a CIO at large for a diverse group of museums, working with staff representatives from executive directors and curators to technical staff. Building BPOC from an idea to a reality in a 3-year period, I managed operating and project budgets of more than $5,000,000, raising all of the funding for the projects BPOC executed. These various cultural heritage technology projects included website redevelopment and content management, collections management, digitization and digital asset management, networking and wireless, technical support, intern and mentoring programs, and mobile app and game development. During my tenure BPOC’s ultimate goal was to create sustainable communities around each of these project areas and to engage and educate the member organizations in the use of technology to achieve their mission-related goals.

Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA | Director of Operations, 10/06 - 03/09

I led several departments including Information Technology, Admissions, Facilities, Security, Office Services, Porters, Call Center, and Operations. In total, I directed 60 staff plus outside contractors, and provided construction planning and management for a 200,000-square-foot facility on a 16-acre campus. I also managed capital projects and new construction, including an 180,000-square-foot subterranean parking garage and a 40,000-square-foot conference center. I oversaw an annual operational budget of $2.5 million, a capital budget of $1.5 million and construction budgets of $75 million. Major accomplishments included developing a business case, program, and re-design for a new 40,000-square-foot conference center; ramping up admissions for the opening Noah’s Ark, a new award-winning children’s museum which increased center attendance by 500% per day; a major server consolidation project; implementations of new Membership management and Ticketing systems; migration of the website to a Joomla based CMS; and implementation of a campus wide, customer-facing wireless network.

The Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY | Chief Information Officer and Director of Facilities & Museum Library & Archives, 7/03 - 10/06

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, I directed and managed the Department of Information Technology, the Facilities Department, and the Department of Library and Archive Services. Duties included supervision of 30 staff members as well as outside contractors supporting 300 museum employees in several locations globally; managing an operational and capital budget of $5 million+; long-range strategic planning; grant writing; technology planning; infrastructure management; and construction and project management. User surveys after my first 18 months indicated that 75% of users noted improvements, with 30% reporting significant improvements, meeting my mandate to refocus the departments and dramatically improve performance and productivity museum wide, with IT Help Desk calls reduced by 40%. I reorganized staff in departments under my supervision and implemented a training program to allow department staff to better support the museums needs.

I also Managed the recovery effort from a major fire in the museum business offices that displaced 130 staff members and supervised the construction of new office space. Other responsibilities included managing a $27 million dollar restoration of the Guggenheim’s iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building in New York; optimizing the museum’s use of Raisers Edge (the primary fundraising application); implementation of a digital asset management system; migration to online timesheets; and implementation of a full feature Intranet and integration of Visitor and Retail systems with the back office financial system.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY | Chief Information Officer/ Chief Technology Officer, 1/99 - 7/03

Reporting to the Museum Director, I directed and managed the department of Information Services, which consists of Information Technology, Library & Archive Services, and the Image Resource Center. Duties included supervision of 9 staff members; operational and capital budgeting; long-range strategic planning; grant writing; technology planning; and project management. During my tenure, I wrote numerous grants and secured nearly $1 million in funding for museum projects. Additionally, website traffic increased from 100,000 visitors annually to more than 2 million.

State University of New York at Buffalo | Adjunct Instructor, 7/01 - 6/03

Instruct graduate and undergraduate courses, providing an introduction to the theoretical aspects and practical skills used in the development of digital media.

HSBC Americas, Buffalo, NY | Senior Technical Analyst, 6/98 - 1/99 / Vice President, Audit, 8/97 - 6/98 | 

 Senior Technical Analyst: Promoted to lead a bank-wide transition to client-server application and deployment of Windows NT workstation to all desktops. Lead team that deployed and subsequently supported 100-200 new workstations per week.

Vice President, Audit: Lead and participated in audit teams that reviewed the technology services.  The audit team provided oversite of a 600-person information technology department. I presented audit reports to the CEO about findings and variances to ensure compliance with departmental and bank standards and federal and state regulatory requirements.

American Sigma, Medina, NY | Information Systems Manager, 1/96 - 8/97 / Product Support Specialist, 1/95 - 1/96

Information Systems Manager: Promoted to create a new Information Systems department for a fast-growing manufacturing company. Transitioned a 100-user ad hoc peer to peer support environment to a formalized IT support team.  Continued to provide product support, including making solo sales calls to Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. 

Product Support Specialist: Provided end-user support, developed product manuals, and worked on cross-departmental development teams designing a diverse array of innovative and award-winning devices designed to measure flow in open channel wastewater and industrial environments.   I also supported software designed to retrieve, log, and present the data from the devices. The apparatus also provides flow and time-based readings regarding the state and composition of the medium such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH as well as taking samples based on the same parameters.

Allstar Computer Systems, Houston TX  | Field Service Engineer, 7/94 - 1/95

I provided field service support for desktop, server, and printers for clients in the oil and gas industry as well as other sectors in Houston, Texas.

Offshore Diving and Salvage, Pasadena TX & Houma, LA | Commercial Diver, 1/93 - 6/94 / Tender, 1/92 - 1/93

Commercial Diver: I worked as both a diver and as a dive manager on offshore oilfield diving and inland diving operations. Work included standard and mixed-gas hard hat diving, dry suit contaminated and hazardous environment diving, surface and underwater construction including welding and cutting, performing inspections, repairs, salvage, and support services for oil rigs and platforms, pipes, ships, bridges, municipal wastewater facilities, dams, ship harbors, ports, docks, and water towers. Some work included extremely hazardous penetration dives, which involved working inside of pipes or equipment with no way to reach the surface in an emergency.

Tender: I supported diver and dive operations by managing the diver in the water as well as pre and post-dive. Operated standard and emergency treatments using one or more recompression chambers. I also supported deck operations, including overseeing rigging, loading, and unloading of equipment at the dock as well as on high seas. Operated and maintained heavy equipment using diesel motors including diving air compressors, high-pressure water pumps, high volume industrial air compressors, welding machines, mixed gas air manifolds, cranes, forklifts and other equipment.

United States Marine Corps | Telephone/Switchboard Technician, 1986 - 1992

My service in the Marines spanned the range from being a technician making basic repairs to sophisticated telecommunication equipment in a field environment to overseeing a full maintenance facility for higher echelon repairs, to being a platoon commander responsible for the work and health and welfare of 40 Marines, to providing humanitarian relief in a combat zone, during the first gulf war. Consistent throughout it was learning, including spending almost two years in different schools and classes and developing the leadership skills that still serve me well today. In addition to Non-Commissioned Officers Basic School, formal training included basic electronics, and telephone and switchboard repair. Through on the job training and correspondence courses, I cross-trained on HF and UHF radio, satellite, teletype and fax systems, multiplexers and connecting and integrating disparate systems.

Relevant Skills

• 30 years of hands-on technology experience
• 25 years of leadership experience
• 18 years of art museum, cultural heritage, and fundraising experience
• 10 years of hands-on, large scale construction experience
• International museum technology thought leader
• Grant review, writing, and fundraising (more than $15 million raised)
• CRM system experience in Raisers Edge and Salesforce
• Strategic planning / mission statement development
• Development and implementation of strategic business plans
• Editor and publisher of 5 volumes distilling the best of cultural technology
• Business re-organization / change management
• P & L budgeting / expense and revenue projecting
• Technology and security policy development
• Human resource management and policy / staff development plans / staff mentoring
• Contract and corporate bylaw development
• Construction management, program development and infrastructure management
• Organizational disaster management planning
• Audit planning and business performance metrics

Professional Activities

• Museums and the Web: Conference Co-Chair (2011 - present)
• National Science Foundation funded Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance STEM Program: Project advisor (2013 - 2017)
• Institute of Museum and Library Services: Museums for America Grant Reviewer (2014)
• Institute of Museum and Library Services: National Leadership Grant Reviewer (2013)
• American Association of Museums: National Program Committee Member (2011)
• Magnetic Museums: Advisory Committee Member (2011 - 2013)
• Digital Public Library of America: Content Workstream Convening Member (2011 - 2013)
• Museum Computer Network : Board of Directors, Treasurer, Executive Committee member (2008 - 2011)
• AAM MUSE Awards  Juror (2010)
• T3: Text, Tagging and Trust : Working Group member
• Fluid Engage Project : Advisory Panel member
• Steve.Museum: Co-Founder, Steering committee (2006 - 2008)
• Museums and The Web: Program Committee (2005 - 2008)
• Albright-Knox Art Gallery: Volunteer Docent (2002 - 2003)
• InfoTech Niagara: Workforce Development Committee (2002 - 2003)
• ITT Technical Institute: Program Advisory Board (2002 - 2003)
• Art Museum Image Consortium: Chair of the Technical Committee (2002 - 2003)
• WNED: Lifelong Digital Learning Service Advisory Committee (2002 - 2003)

Publications 

Cherry, Rich, editor. 2021, forthcoming. MuseWeb 2021: Selected Papers and Proceedings from a Virtual International Conference. Culver City, California: MuseWeb.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2020. MuseWeb 2020: Selected Papers and Proceedings from a Virtual International Conference. Silver Springs, Maryland: MuseWeb.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2019. MuseWeb 2019: Selected Papers and Proceedings from an International Conference. Silver Springs, Maryland: MuseWeb.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2018. Museums and the Web 2018: Selected Papers from an International Conference. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2017. Museums and the Web 2017: Selected Papers from an International Conference. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2016. Museums and the Web 2016: Selected Papers from Two International Conferences. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2015. Museums and the Web 2015: Selected Papers from Three International Conferences. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Cherry, Rich. 2014. “The Broad: A New Art Museum in the Digital Age.” In Museums and the Web Asia 2014, Proceedings, edited by Nancy Proctor and Rich Cherry. Silver Springs, Maryland: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2014. Museums and the Web 2014 and Museums and the Web Asia 2013: Selected Papers from Two International Conferences. N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2013. Museums and the Web 2013: Selected Papers. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Proctor, Nancy, and Rich Cherry, eds. 2012. Museums and the Web 2012: Selected Papers. Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web.

Cherry, R. (2011). “Collaboration, Dark Fiber and the Challenges of Deploying Mobile Infrastructure.” In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2011: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics.

Proctor, N. et al. (2011) “Getting on (not under) the Mobile 2.0 Bus.” In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2011: Selected Papers from an International Conference. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics.

Cherry, R. (2010).” A Walk in the Park: The Balboa Park Online Collaborative, First Year Report.” In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2010: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics.

Edson, M. and Cherry, R. (2010). “Museum Commons: Tragedy or Enlightened Self-Interest?” In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2010: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics.

Wyman, B. et al. (2006). Steve.museum: An Ongoing Experiment in Social Tagging, Folksonomy, and Museums. In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2006: Selected Papers from an International Conference. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics.

Bearman, D., Trant, J., et al. (2005). Social Terminology Enhancement through Vernacular Engagement: Exploring Collaborative Annotation to Encourage Interaction with Museum Collections. D-Lib Magazine, 11(9). 

Presentations

Museum As Startup, Agenda: Communicating the Museum Conference 2017

Opening Keynote: Museums and the Web: 20 years of Museum Technology. SITEM 2016

Closing Keynote: The Broad: A new Art Museum in the Digital Age. Museums and the Web Asia 2014

The Future of Ticketing: Solutions for Museums of All Sizes. American Association of Museums annual conference 2014

Assessing Tools and Best Practices for Email Preservation and Access in Art Museums, a special session at Museums and the Web 2014

Keynote: Collaboration in a Digital Age. Midterm Event: Continuous Access To Cultural Heritage (CATCH), Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research 2013

What’s a Museum Technologist today? Museums and the Web 2013

Keynote: The Future of Museums. Balboa Park Central Annual Meeting 2012

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Digital Age Collaborations. American Association of Museums annual conference 2012

How to Pitch Technology to your Board: Strategy to Implementation. American Association of Museums annual conference 2012

Making Mobile Part of THE Strategy. Museum Computer Network Conference 2011

Managing Multilingual Content. Museum Computer Network Conference 2011

Mobile Governance workshop. Smithsonian Institution 2011

Collaboration that Works: 2 Years in Balboa Park—a case study about collaborative projects at Balboa Park. Museum Computer Network Conference 2011

Backup, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity and the Cloud. Museum Computer Network Conference 2011

Collaboration and Dark Fiber. Museums and the Web 2011

Go Multilingual: Tools, Tricks, and Trends for Presenting Museum Content to Everyone. American Association of Museums annual conference 2011

Exploring a Leverage-Model: Digital Technology, Professional Development, and Micro funding. American Association of Museums annual conference 2011

Jump Start Digital Work in Your Institution: An Interactive Planning Session. American Association of Museums annual conference 2010

Innovative Technology: Breaking Down Barriers Between the Physical and Virtual Museum. American Association of Museums annual conference 2010

Museum Commons: Tragedy or Enlightened Self-Interest? (Professional Forum). Museums and the Web 2010

A Walk in the Park: The Balboa Park Online Collaborative, First Year Report. Museums and the Web 2010

Balboa Park Online Collaborative: An Overview. Museum Computer Network California Special Interest Group and California Association of Museums joint meeting 2009

Tag You're It: A dialog between social tagging and traditional classification. Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society for Information Annual Workshop 2008

Steve: Folksonomy in the Museum. Museums and the Web 2006

Steve: A Tool for Exploring Folksonomy in the Museum. Museum Computer Network Conference 2005

Cataloguing by Crowd (Professional Forum). Museums and the Web 2005

30+ years of field experience.