The South Street Seaport Museum has a new captain. Paula Mayo has been named executive director of the museum, replacing of Peter Neill, who resigned two months ago and now serves as president emeritus.
Mayo has worked at the Seaport Museum for 14 years, previously as deputy director and vice president for programs and development.
From her new post, Mayo will oversee the installation of an exhibit on the museum’s Dutch treasures, to open in its new Schermerhorn galleries on June 17. Drawn from the museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts excavated at more than 12 sites in Lower Manhattan, the exhibit will display artifacts relating to daily life in the Dutch settlement, including wampum and trade beads used in transactions with Native Americans and marbles and a game board.
Summer is the museum’s busiest season, and Mayo said she would like to increase local participation in the museum’s many programs.
“Our goal is to let the Downtown community know what we do,” Mayo said.
For a schedule of programs, visit the museum’s Web site at www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org.
The Seaport museum will welcome students to its galleries starting this fall. A new high school for history and communications will open within Seward Park High School on the Lower East Side, and its students will take many of their history and science courses at the museum, Mayo said.
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