February 17, 2006—The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego has named Carolyn Clark, a leading fundraiser and non-profit consultant for more than two decades, as its new capital campaign director.

According to Kay Wagner, executive director, Clark was recruited to assist the Museum in doubling a gift recently received from Joan and Irwin Jacobs. In January, the Museum announced a $5 million gift from the Jacobs and has pledged to double that gift with funds raised from the greater San Diego community.

“The Children’s Museum is undertaking its greatest transformation since its founding more than 24 years ago,” Wagner said. “By building a new state-of-the-art facility and expanding programming, we are reshaping the role and identity of the Museum as a premier family attraction and community resource.”
Construction on the Museum’s new $25 million building is expected to begin in April, thanks to the recent Jacobs gift. The Museum has been in the midst of raising funds for a new 50,000-square-foot structure since 2003 when its previous building was demolished to make way for new condominiums.
A resident of La Jolla, Clark’s extensive list of accomplishments includes chairing ENCORE! for the arts, Valentine Gala for the San Diego Leukemia Society and Fantasy Sports Auction for Hall of Champions. She has served on the board of directors for Leukemia Society of America, La Jolla Opera Guild, West Hollywood Orchestra and Randy Jones’ Diamonds in the Rough Foundation.

Clark has also been a consultant to Junior Theatre and Starlight Musical Theater, a grant writer for several organizations, and is the former director of development for Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Management Assistance Forum, and the Center for Non-Profit Management.

“I am delighted to put my experience and extensive contacts to work for the Children’s Museum,” Clark said, “and to produce the critical results the Museum so deserves.”

The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego is a cultural and educational institution with a quarter-century history of hands-on, arts-based programs for children and their families. It has been cited nationally for its emphasis on the arts and its challenging and problem-solving activities that develop critical thinking skills among children.

Located in the heart of the Marina District in downtown San Diego, just blocks from Petco Park, Horton Plaza, the Gaslamp Quarter, and the Convention Center, the new Museum will be an integral part of downtown’s revitalization, according to Wagner.

Designed by renowned architect and downtown San Diego resident Rob Wellington Quigley as the first “green” building in downtown San Diego, it will include a dramatic three-story atrium, an entrance bridge that spans from Island Avenue into the see-through museum to a point 17 feet above the lower level, a glass-enclosed elevator tower that rises above the building and functions as a solar cooling tower, and an angled saw-tooth-shaped roof structure with space for future solar panels. Recycled building materials, water-saving devices, natural day lighting and convection cooling will be additional environmentally friendly elements.

The new Museum at 200 West Island Avenue will include art galleries, theatrical spaces, a toddler area, a revolving artist-in-residence space, clay, painting and mixed-media studios, as well as a computer animation studio and party rooms. In addition to public spaces, the Museum facility will house the Museum School, administrative offices and an exhibit workshop.