The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has named Jennifer Cooley as its new Director of Museum Education and Community Engagement. Cooley, a Battle Creek native and Michigan State University graduate, comes to the KIA with more than 20 years of museum education and engagement experience. Before taking on her new position, Cooley’s previous role was as education and outreach manager at the State Historical Society of Iowa. As the KIA begins its centennial year, Cooley is reacquainting herself with the museum as well as the greater Kalamazoo community.
“I’ve missed Michigan,” Cooley says. “Especially the last couple years, my thoughts have been drawn toward the Mitten State because of all the wonderful changes that have been happening in the arts and culture community in Southwest Michigan. When this position opened up, I jumped at applying for it in order to move back to Michigan but to be closer to family as well.”
Cooley’s expertise in museum education and community engagement are evident in her career history. In addition to her time at the State Historical Society of Iowa, Cooley worked at two other Des Moines cultural institutions: Salisbury House, where she served as Volunteer and Education Coordinator, and the Des Moines Art Center, at which she worked for 12 years as its Museum Education and Docent Program Manager. She brings not only comprehensive community programming experience, including collection interpretation and curricula development, to the KIA, but grant writing and DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion) training to her new role.
As Cooley prepares for KIA’s centennial year, she says she cannot yet reveal all the exciting plans for the upcoming celebration but says: “Part of what we at the KIA will be doing is helping folks understand the broader history and the impact that this organization has had on Southwest Michigan for coming on one hundred years.”
Cooley holds a bachelor’s degree in art history, as well as certification in museum studies, from Michigan State University. Her graduate work reflects her interest in grounding museums as a source of community engagement, with a master’s in museum studies and public programming from John F. Kennedy University (now National University) and an MPA focusing on executive leadership from Drake University. She served as an Iowa Council of Social Studies Board member as well as a grant reviewer for the Iowa Arts Council. Cooley previously served on the board of the Iowa Museum Association and as a grant reviewer for Institute of Museum and Library Services, Museums for America. She began her position at the KIA in October 2023.
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