PEABODY — Jen Kowal began her new role as the executive director of the North Shore Children’s Museum less than a month ago.
“We interviewed a number of very well-qualified applicants for Executive Director, and we feel that Jennifer is particularly well-suited for the role,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said in a press release. “In addition to her background in fundraising, Jennifer has extensive experience in the day-to-day operations of successful museums. She has a proven track record which will help the Children’s Museum continue its dynamic growth.”
“I made the right decision. I think that’s what I learned about myself the past three weeks… It was the right decision to join the City of Peabody,” she said.
Kowal joins the museum with experience at eight other museums and art galleries in her career. She began as a research assistant intern in 2006 at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Ledyard, Connecticut to most recently serving as the external relations manager at the Providence Children’s Museum in Providence, Rhode Island.
She has also worked at museums and art galleries locally, in Edgartown, and across the East Coast in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
“I thought I was going to originally go into museum collections,” Kowal said.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Connecticut and then her master’s degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University, she worked as the gallery manager at the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association Old Sculpin Gallery.
“It was an interesting position, because I had never worked with artists up to that point,” Kowal said. “It gave me the opportunity to work with collections, but also interact with living artists. And I really loved that… It changed the trajectory of my career.”
After watching Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed 1993 film, Jurassic Park, while growing up, she said she wanted to become a paleontologist.
“I remember being in third grade, my dad said to me, ‘Paleontologists don’t make any money.’ So then when I was doing anthropology, I was like, ‘Well, I’ll be an archeologist.’ And my dad said, ‘Archeologists don’t make any money,’” Kowal said
She said after completing an archaeology summer internship during undergrad at the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in Ledyard, CT, she shifted her career to anthropology.
“Museums are a great way to apply my passion of working in anthropology,” Kowal said.
Before finding the job at the North Shore Children’s Museum, she said she hadn’t heard of the museum and has been continuing to learn.
“I wasn’t familiar with the North Shore. It seems like a really cool place up here with gems,” she said.
“Everybody that I’ve met so far has been really welcoming and excited about being a part of the community, and that’s, in turn, really exciting for me,” Kowal said. “To know that people support each other here, that’s great, because as a museum, we’re working with the public, and it’s good to have the public’s support.”
As she explores the exhibits at the museum, she enjoys the interactive touch screens and hopes to implement them in more exhibits.
Her goals as the new executive director include working with the fundraising committee to raise money to change exhibits at the museum more frequently and provide more programs for families, she said. She also wants to work with local artists to continue to add to the space.
“I hope that when families, or children and their caregivers, or children who are here on field trips, when they leave, they go home, really excited about their day,” Kowal said. “Something that I hope that we can provide is not only a space for children to experience new things, but also a space that helps educators and helps parents.
“It takes a village to raise a kid. I think what’s really important is that we’re a fun, safe, educational space, not only for kids, but also for the caregivers and the adults that are helping raise them into adults themselves,” she added.
