New director charts path for Holland Museum’s future

In just six months into her role as executive director of the Holland Museum, Michelle Stempien is already building on the legacy of her predecessor, Ricki Levine, as she charts a path for the museum’s future.

Stempien, who took over in June, stepped into the position with nearly two decades of experience in the museum field, including her prior role as education and outreach manager at the Holland Museum since 2020. 

Among the highlights is the museum’s receiving five grants from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, for nearly $40,000. These funds will be used for operational support, facility improvements, arts education and the Living Archive Project. The latter is a new initiative to share indigenous histories in the museum’s History Gallery.

“These grants enable us to improve our exhibits, expand educational programs, and make the museum more accessible to all,” she says. 

Additionally, plans are underway for a new curriculum-based traveling exhibit, History-in-a-Box, focusing on immigration stories.

Stempien is building on the museum's accomplishments under Levine’s seven-year tenure, which includes re-accreditation from the Alliance of American Museums, the creation of the SparkLab youth space, and recognition for social justice in education. 

“I am honored to lead the Holland Museum during such an exciting time,” Stempien said. “This institution is a cornerstone of our community, and I look forward to continuing to guide its growth and success.”

The Lakeshore recently caught up with Stempien to talk about her first months at the museum's helm and her vision for 2025. 

The Lakeshore: What is your vision for the Holland Museum’s future as the new executive director, and how has your experience as the museum's education director prepared you to lead the organization in this role?

Michelle Stempien: I have worked in museums for almost 30 years. Even though my primary role has been education, in museums, everyone often pitches in and does whatever is needed. I have curated exhibits, promoted events and programs, written grants, planned fundraisers; done anything that was needed. Although there is certainly a learning curve as a first-time director, I have a well-rounded background in how museums should run and engage with the community. 

My vision focuses on leaning into one of the museum's core values: community. The museum has always been a strong community partner and educational resource, but we are working to engage even further, getting more involved in Downtown Holland, building more partnerships, and establishing the museum as a community gathering space. History is happening every day in Holland and Holland's history lives here at the Holland Museum. 

TL: How will the grant funds for operational support and facility improvement enhance the museum’s ability to deliver meaningful experiences to visitors and the community?

MS: First, we will be upgrading our Clover point of sale system at the museum for admissions and the gallery shop, which will improve our recordkeeping but will allow us to provide discounts and coupons to our visitors. We will also make some much-needed repairs and change out some of the displays in both the History and Dutch galleries, including more labels in English and Spanish. We now also have the support to add a third curriculum-based History-in-a-Box which will feature Holland's Immigrant stories. With this support, we will be able to provide the community with some new and improved educational experiences inside and outside the museum's walls. 

TL: Can you elaborate on the Living Archive Project initiative and its goal to share a more comprehensive Indigenous story in the history gallery?

The museum staff and board recognize that the museum still has work to do when we talk about "telling everyone's stories." The Living Archive Project is the blueprint for how we will re-envision the museum's history gallery to not only continue to tell the Dutch story but include the stories that reflect the diversity of Holland today. The first stage will focus on the Indigenous people who were here before the Dutch arrive, but will also share contemporary Indigenous stories through photos, videos, oral histories, personal artifacts, and artwork.

TL: What is the museum’s plan for the curriculum-based "History-in-a-Box" program, and how will it bring immigration stories to life for local schools and communities?

MS: The museum has already developed two curriculum-based History-in-a Box programs which are easily movable bins containing lesson plans, and activities that can be rented by educators for their classrooms. Our current boxes focus on how children lived in Victorian times and the Native American history of the area. The Immigration History-in-a Box will be similarly organized but will also feature recordings of local immigrant stories for the students to study. 

TL: With the MACC grant supporting repairs to the Dutch gallery, what key elements of the gallery’s historical narrative will be preserved or updated through this project?

MS: We will be starting this project slowly and it will progress in stages as we continue to secure resources. Our plan is to organize the art thematically rather than chronologically. The history and the artist information will still be there, but visitors will be able to compare and contrast how and why the style of Dutch art evolves over time within a particular subject matter. Portraits will be grouped together, still lifes, landscapes, etc. This new arrangement will also allow us to change paintings out more easily and more frequently to keep the galleries fresh. We are also designing interactive activities that will be distributed throughout the Dutch gallery to help our visitors, especially our younger visitors, engage with the art more easily and have fun at the same time.   
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Read more articles by Shandra Martinez.