Josi Callan has worked for museums before. But Tacoma’s new Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art is the first to which she’s nurtured from conception to birth.

            From courting donors to reconfiguring gallery space, Director and Chief Executive Officer Callan has headed efforts to bring the long-talked-about project to fruition. The $63 million museum opens July 6 and houses 13,000 square feet of gallery space, a theater, studio space for educational programs and a hot-shop amphitheater. It’s connected to downtown Tacoma via a pedestrian bridge that showcases $12 million in donated art from hometown boy and preeminent glass artist Dale Chihuly.

            The museum’s original focus was supposed to be glass, but it’s since expanded to include other forms of contemporary art. While the institution has attracted memberships and donations from eight countries, Callan remains committed to art education, community outreach and inclusion at a grass-roots level.

            “This program is not about pretenses,” she says. “Sure, there’s an international aspect to it, but it’s really about opening doors and making art accessible to all people.”

“Too many people think of museums as stuffy, dark, cold places. I want people to come here and be engaged. I want them to interpret pieces in ways that hold meaning to them, whether they’re 5 or 95.”

            Callan came to Tacoma from the San Jose Museum of Art, where she spent nine years leading its transformation into one of the country’s leading cultural institutions.

When she was approached about taking the helm at the Museum of Glass, she was reluctant because she loved her job, her community and California’s sunny clime.

 “Dale Chihuly and I were friends, so I knew about the project,” says Callan. “But when (board of trustees co-chairman) George Russell called me about the museum, I thought ‘No way.’

But Callan was intrigued by Russell’s passion for the project and the opportunity to build a museum – quite literally – from the ground up.

“I know what the arts can do to build great cities,” says the fiery mother of three and grandmother of one. “Tacoma’s cultural scene is where San Jose’s was 10 to 15 years ago, so it’s exciting for me to be part of that growth. It’s easy for me to see the potential.”

 For more information www.museumofglass.org.