Q&A with MOSAC Executive Director Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime

Portrait by Max Whittaker

You had been living and working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and now you’re finally in Sacramento full-time after traveling back and forth for the last year or so after your husband, Agustín Arteaga, moved here himself in 2025 to take over as CEO and direc- tor of the Crocker Art Museum.

Yes, it’s like a dream come true. Coming from Dallas, I’m telling you, this is paradise. I think some people take Sacramento for granted. I love that we are here together because it’s really a beautiful city.

Do you see any opportunities where the Crocker and MOSAC could work together in some capacity?

Absolutely. When we were working in Texas, Agustín was the director of the Dallas Museum of Art, and I was running a smaller institution—the Latino Arts Project [prior to Transform 1012 N. Main Street], where I was doing Latin American and Latinx exhibitions. And we never really collaborated, but in the case here in Sacramento, I feel that there are a lot of opportunities with STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics] careers, since art conservation combines science and arts [to preserve and restore artworks]. During my first 100 days, I’m going to have 100 conversations and try to really understand the needs of our team at MOSAC, our stakeholders and board members, but most importantly our community. And then we’ll discuss that.

Let me back up a little bit first: What attracted you to MOSAC in the first place?

I had some experience in a children’s museum, at one of the largest museums in Latin America—Papalote Museo del Niño—in Mexico City. I worked for them for three years as a consultant and I created the development department while they were going through a process of expansion and really a transformation of the museum experience. It was an amazing job and amazing work. I enjoyed it very much. So when somebody told me the sci- ence museum in Sacramento was looking for an executive director, I definitely wanted to apply. And it’s incredible that I was chosen.

Since this is the first science museum that you’re heading, can you talk a little bit about your interest and experience in science?

Well, I’m an industrial engineer. My bachelor’s degree was in industrial and systems engineering. And I have a master’s in international management. I started as an engineer in a manufacturing plant for automobile parts, and then I worked for almost 13 years at Hewlett-Packard, first in Mexico City, and then in Miami. So I’ve been working with technology and science for a long, long time. But I’ve also always been involved with the arts. Not only because Agustín has been a museum director since we met [more than 30 years ago]. Before I met him, I was actually very interested in the arts, particularly the visual arts. I would go to museums by myself because my engineer friends didn’t like to go to museums. [Laughs] Then while working at Hewlett-Packard, and before that in other companies, I always tried to support cultural institutions as a volunteer, as a donor or as a board member. That was when I discovered that, really, my function in life was to support the nonprofit world. That’s why I made the decision to move into nonprofit organizations.

And you’ve been doing that for quite a while now. Can you talk a little bit about what’s involved in being an executive director in the nonprofit world?

The nonprofit world is very complex in that you have a lot of limitations in terms of resources. In the nonprofit world, you need to look for partnerships because the resources are limited and you need to work together to make sure that your organization can offer the best experiences. So maybe you find a partner in another part of the city or the country or the world who has those experiences that you can share with your community, and with your visitors. I think the executive director is a facilitator. You are the one really supporting your team to make sure that things happen.

Obviously part of that is fundraising and increasing attendance. It’s public knowledge that both contributions and attendance are down at MOSAC. How do you address that?

Yes, that’s one of the priorities of maybe every nonprofit executive director—bringing resources to the organization. Part of that in this case is offering great exhibits on science and technology, and all the things related to the museum. And we’re not talking only about children; it’s also about offering experiences for all ages, so we need to make sure that our experiences and exhibitions really appeal to different ages and different kinds of visitors. The better you understand the needs of the community, the more visitors you will attract.

But if one of our most important visitors are children, then how is our relationship with the local school systems? And how do we really give the opportunity to all  children—not only the ones who can pay for it—to enjoy your programs. That’s very important. The museum already has programs [that enable schools and low-income families to apply] for free admission, but I feel that we need to maybe strengthen those programs and look for ways to really reach out to underserved communities.

It’s interesting to hear you say that you really want to attract all ages. My wife and I have been there for some events targeted to adults, like a Pink Floyd laser show at the planetarium. Can you speak a bit to attracting an older audience?

I mean, the kids are at the core, right? And you want really to incentivize and encourage children to learn more about science and math and engineering and technology, because sometimes the kids go back home and tell mom, “Don’t waste water.” So whatever they learn there may be shared with the whole family.

But we can also have adult-only evenings, where maybe we can have drinks or a networking experience. This is something that happens in other science museums in the country. I know that MOSAC used to have these adult nights. When they announced my appointment, one of the posts on social media said, “I hope he brings back the adult nights.”

Science is attractive to everybody, particularly right now in the moment that we are living with AI, and all these controversies. I feel that everybody wants to learn more about technology. 

Right. And even though MOSAC isn’t very old—it opened in 2021—the world has changed so much even in that short period when it comes to health, science and technology. I have to believe that walking into this role, you’re thinking about AI and bringing it to the museum in some way.

I think it’s part of our daily life, so we need to make sure that the institution is aware of those technologies for our museum operations, but also how we can offer that knowledge to our visitors as well. One of the things that attracted me to MOSAC is that in its mission, it talks about exploring the wonders, possibilities and responsibilities. And we do need to be very responsible because science can  be terrible, right? It can generate a nuclear bomb, or create other kinds of things to hurt humanity.

Right now—like literally this week—we’re talking about the responsibility of developing AI. [This conversation took place in mid-September, when the discussion about AI possibly becoming a near-term existential threat to humanity became a global topic.] I think that the museum is in a great position to talk about that. Maybe we’ll have museum programs talking about AI and how it can benefit humans, but also talk about how can we prevent AI from working against humanity.

Are most of the exhibits that are there now the original ones that opened five years ago?

We do have some newer exhibitions, but most of them are the ones that were originally there when the museum opened in 2021.

Is part of your role to add new exhibits, including temporary exhibits, to keep people coming back?

Correct. That’s one of the objectives and goals of my listening tour—understanding from the point of view of our own team, who are the experts on exhibitions and visitor experience. And I’m fortunate that I have some friends in Mexico City who can tell me what their blockbuster exhibitions are. The director of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas is a good friend. So I’m sure we will ask for advice and see if we can maybe share temporary exhibitions, which is a good way to attract repeat visits. I definitely see partnerships in the future of MOSAC. There’s the programming too—lectures and presentations with scientists and researchers. I think there’s many ways that you can make sure that you are offering experiences that attract people more than once. But again, you need to learn from your community first.

For the last four years, you were the executive director of a group of nonprofits called Transform 1012 N. Main Street—you were spearheading the conversion of a 1924 building that used to be home to the Ku Klux Klan into an inclusive cultural center with classrooms, galleries, a theater and more. Is there a way that you anticipate that position might be helpful in your new position?

I learned a lot about social justice and how to communicate with diverse communities.

I think it helped me understand that there are a lot of needs in the world and in your own community. And the museum really gives you the opportunity to learn things, and to explore.

Going further back, as a child, did you have the opportunity to go to science museums?

I grew up in a very small town in Mexico—we didn’t have museums at all, actually. But I used to go north to Monterrey [Mexico], where I was born—they had a science museum, so I went there and it was amazing.

But it didn’t really inspire me to look for a career in science. I wanted a career in a more creative field. I never thought about studying engineering. That was kind of my father pressuring me because he knew that I was good at math and physics, so he was like, “You need to be an engineer.” [That said], I really enjoyed working for Hewlett-Packard and for the auto industry. My mind is very structured. When I see a situation, I always have a plan, like how I’m going to get to that point. That helps me a lot with my job right now as an executive director because you need a lot of structure and you need to do a lot of planning.

Well, it sounds like your background in science and your passion for the arts combine very nicely with this position.

I hope so. There’s the science of managing a museum and the science of loving art. Science is everywhere. 

This interview has been edited for length, flow and clarity.