Barbara Mogel received a Special Major Master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (visual arts and natural sciences) from California State University, Fullerton, CA, which expanded upon her bachelor’s degree in printmaking from Scripps College, Claremont, CA. Her M.A. art exhibition and thesis were about estuarine ecology and the evolution of depictions about the natural world. For several years she was a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators providing science illustrations for college textbooks in biology and medical anthropology. Prior to moving to Maine, Barbara completed the Maryland Master Naturalist program for the Chesapeake Bay biogeographical region.
The majority of her 32-year career as a museum exhibit design consultant included projects in San Diego, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Tampa, FL; Raleigh, NC and two exhibitions that opened the Smithsonian’s George Gustav High Center in New York City, NY. Barbara also worked within governments (city, state, and federal agencies) providing planning and exhibit design for projects in California and Maryland. In 2002, Barbara was asked to serve as the project manager for the Smithsonian’s $4.2 M Our Peoples exhibition to open the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. During her ten years on staff at NMAI she also managed Listening to Our Ancestors, Windows on Collections, and Games and Toys exhibitions. Several years before Barbara retired from the Smithsonian, she worked with the Smithsonian’s Office of Policy and Analysis that resulted in a new model of what motivates people to go to museums, and an exhibit design methodology to assure excellence in museum exhibit experiences.
Barbara is a perpetual beginning birder as she enjoys the deep dive into what is known about a few species each summer in Maine: this year it is Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets.