Museum taps islander

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, April 23, 2005

Theresa Cos­grove succeeds Erica Varga as executive director.

The Bainbridge Island Historical Society has tapped a local resident with years of museum experience to fill its executive director position.

Theresa Cosgrove, an islander since 1992, has filled similar roles at museums in Wisconsin and California and has led U.S. government arts programs in Europe and Japan.

“My first love is museums and this position combines all sorts of interests I have,” Cosgrove said, after the society’s board of directors named her to the position Thursday.

Cosgrove most recently worked as a cultural resources coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where she mapped historically significant sites near work projects. Before that, she was in the Seattle Art Museum’s membership department.

One of her first jobs after earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin was as director of the Chippewa Valley Museum in Northern Wisconsin.

Graduate museum management studies in California led to work as the assistant director and curator of the Presidio Museum in San Fran­cisco.

She directed a U.S. government art center in Japan for one year, followed by nearly a decade of similar work in England, Italy and Germany.

Cosgrove said she’s excited to take the helm of the Bainbridge museum after pivotal changes and growth.

“Because we have the new location right downtown, we’re all of a sudden faced with a new vision,” she said. “When the museum was at Strawberry Hill, our main mission was the preservation of artifacts. Now the emphasis is on more public outreach and long-range planning.”

She hopes to form closer relationships with other cultural organizations, and to draw more tourists to the museum.

Cosgrove has volunteered with the Bainbridge library, island schools, the farmers market and other groups. She plans to tap these connections to boost volunteerism with the society.

She replaces Erica Varga, who resigned from the position in mid-March. Varga will remain active with the society as a member of the board of directors.

“I’m relieved to have found a new place for myself at the society so that I can continue to influence islanders’ perception of their home and community,” Varga said. “I’m glad to now know that I will be interacting with a group of people that I care very much for.”

Varga has accepted a position as a consultant for the Poulsbo Historical Society. She will help that group develop a collections management system and establish a new community museum.