New executive director hired for Reach center in Richland

The new executive director of the Reach center grew up in Washington and has 25 years of experience in the museum industry.

Rosanna Sharpe starts April 17.

“I’m very happy. It was a long process (to find a new director),” said Dan Boyd, president of the Richland Public Facilities District Board, which oversees the Reach.

Sharpe is personable and skilled, and Boyd expects her to do well in the role, he said.

“She will have different ideas. She comes with a lot of museum experience. We’re looking forward to this addition to our community,” Boyd said.

Sharpe couldn’t immediately be reached to talk about her new job.

She grew up in Yakima and Tacoma, and earned a bachelor of fine arts in arts administration from Long Island University and a master of fine arts in museum studies from Syracuse University.

She most recently worked as executive director of the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Sharpe also served as director of curatorial affairs at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, manager of the traveling exhibition program and collections at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, art gallery director at Marywood in Scranton, Pa., and registrar and curatorial assistant at the Tacoma Art Museum.

She’s a board member of the Western Museums Association and a committee member of the American Alliance of Museums’ Leadership and Management Network. She also participated in Getty Leadership Institute’s executive program at Claremont Graduate University.

Boyd and his board of colleagues chose Sharpe from a pool of five finalists.

She’ll make an annual base salary of $75,000; her contract is for about 2 1/2 years.

Sharpe replaces Lisa Toomey, who retired in December after about five years with the museum. Toomey oversaw its transformation from a stalled project to a brick-and-mortar facility.

Nick Ceto, a former public facilities district board member, filled in as interim director after Toomey’s retirement.

The Reach museum opened in the summer of 2014 at the west end of Columbia Park. It’s dedicated to telling stories of the region’s history, people and natural resources.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 5:24 PM with the headline "New executive director hired for Reach center in Richland."