Javier Plasencia is the new director of education at the Crocker Art Museum. He oversees eight programmers and educators in the planning and execution of more than 300 programs to serve about 35,000 people each year.
The job is a homecoming for Plasencia, who grew up in Pocket-Greenhaven. His experience includes work with the arts and design team at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York and Museum of Modern Art.
Most recently, he was program manager for the Museum Studies Master of Arts program at University of San Francisco. He recruited, advised and taught graduate students.
Photography by Crocker Art Museum
Plasencia received his master’s degree in visual arts administration from New York University and his bachelor’s from Columbia.
He arrived in October, giving him time to work with Lial Jones, the Crocker’s Mort and Marcy Friedman director and CEO who retired at the end of 2024.
“Javi’s professional background and familiarity with the Sacramento region lend themselves beautifully to developing strong community partnerships programs,” Jones says.
“I’m very excited to have had some time to overlap with Lial and to get to know her and to experience her leadership and learn from her,” Plasencia says.
Plasencia lives near Southside Park and walks to work. Unlike many new employees, he doesn’t need a map.
“I was born and raised here, went to parochial schools here in Sacramento, but I’m super happy to be returning to this position,” Plasencia says. “I come from a very large, Mexican American family, and I have strong ties to Sacramento. So, in the back of my mind as I progressed through my career, I always had the idea of coming back someday if this type of position ever became open.”
The Crocker’s education programming ranks with the top museums nationwide.
“What make us unique is that we offer programs differentiated by different audience groups, from toddlers to seniors and every level in between,” Plasencia says. “We have teen studio programs, adult classes, and we have a creative aging program that we’ve just partnered with Eskaton to develop.
“Our team is always working to build a suite of programming that is continually learning what each community wants, and then engages them in meaningful ways. My job is to oversee the cycle of our seasonal programs.”
Museums were hard hit by pandemic lockdowns that shut their doors for far too long, canceling exhibits and classes.
“We are still rebounding and rebuilding, as are most museums,” Plasencia says. “But we’re doing really well in terms of both the number of people and the diversity of people who are coming in.”
Along with diverse audiences, Plasencia loves to see people who don’t regularly attend exhibitions.
“During my interview for this job I was asked who my favorite audience was,” he says. “I said that it is people who’ve never been to a museum before.
“The museum serves thousands of schoolchildren. Most of these kids have never been to the museum. So they can hardly contain their excitement when they walk in. This is how we start to build lifelong museum patrons.
“We’re a place where everyone is welcome. But keeping this gorgeous modern building from being intimidating to some is a big part of my job. We work to break down those barriers.”
Most of Plasencia’s education budget is supplied by the Crocker Art Museum. Grant funding is another strategy for growth.
“The Crocker is such a storied institution, and we bring a lot of energy and power to the arts community,” he says. “But along with that comes a lot of great responsibility to strengthen these relationships and partnerships with the business community.
“In many ways our goal is simple: Get people in the door more than once a year.”
Cecily Hastings can be reached at cecily@insidepublications.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
