TAOS, NM.- Rebecca Aubin started her new job as Director of Museum Learning and Public Programs at the Harwood Museum of Art last week.

“The Harwood’s Director of Museum Learning and Public Programs is responsible for more than half of the Museum’s annual attendance, is very visible within the Taos community, and is essential to advancing the Museum’s mission,” says Susan Longhenry, Director. “I’m happy to say that, by all accounts, we found the right person. We’re thrilled to have Rebecca officially onboard.”

Aubin will lead educational and public programs serving the Harwood’s youth, family, school and adult audiences. The programs include Art in the Schools, a program combining gallery experiences with art-making activities that serves 3,500 school children each year. Many of those students attend Taos’ Enos Garcia Elementary School, a dual-language school with which the Museum has formed a strong partnership. Aubin will also provide leadership to the Harwood’s Neighborhood Arts Project, an innovative program serving nearly 1,500 children each summer at five sites throughout Taos County. Her area of responsibility also includes the facilitation of learning experiences in the Museum’s galleries through self-guided materials and drop-in activities. Last but not least, Aubin will direct public programming offered through the Museum’s Arthur Bell Auditorium – a dynamic space hosting a diverse and robust schedule of concerts, films, lectures, and other community gatherings.

Aubin brings 18 years of experience in both museum- and classroom-based learning environments. She comes to the Harwood from the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), where she served as Museum Educator for School and Educator Programs. There Aubin developed and implemented gallery learning experiences for children and adults, oversaw SAM’s docent program, and managed SAM’s art studio workshops and museum-wide programs. She trained 120 docents annually, and reached more than 10,000 school children each year. 60,000 adults participate in the public and private tours lead by SAM’s docents each year. Aubin also managed seven teaching artists who served around 7,800 school kids per year.

Prior to her work at SAM, Aubin served as a classroom educator and as Associate Curator of Education at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah. Aubin has been active in national museum education organizations including the National Docent Symposium, Visual Understanding in Education, and the National Art Education Association.

“Offering people of all ages access to art, culture and heritage at the Harwood Museum of Art is a wonderful career opportunity,” says Aubin. “I am very excited to be in Taos and look forward to meeting more people from the community and learning more about the collection and the artists of Taos and Northern New Mexico.”