Tina Quealy has been named the new chief executive officer of
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee.
Quealy replaces
Brian King, who announced earlier this year that he would step down as CEO of Betty Brinn Children’s Museum once a new CEO was in place.
Previously, Quealy served six years as executive director of the Milwaukee-based Burke Foundation, having joined the organization in 2013 as program officer. Before that, Quealy served as associate director of the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship and as an adjunct faculty member at Marquette University.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tina to our leadership team, and look forward to having her advance the museum’s current operations and guide the transition to our new, permanent home,” said
Laura Orr, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum board chair. “Tina will continue to raise the profile of the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum within the community, while expanding on our mission to inspire all children to wonder and explore their world through play and innovative, hands-on learning experiences.”
“It’s a great privilege to be selected by the board of directors to lead the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum,” said Quealy. “I’m excited about the future of the museum, and the opportunity to build a transformational space for young people and families across southeastern Wisconsin. My top priority is building a new, inclusive, accessible museum for families as a resource for their child’s education, enrichment and growth.”
Quealy takes over the leadership position of Betty Brinn Children’s Museum as the institution is seeking a new home. The organization announced earlier this year that it was seeking a new location and that it had retained Colliers International to assist in the search. Betty Brinn has been located at the O’Donnell Park complex in downtown Milwaukee for 27 years. Museum leaders have previously said the space is too small for its needs.
In 2020, the Milwaukee Public Museum and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum announced plans to co-locate in a new facility. The plans called for Betty Brinn to occupy 33,000 square feet specifically designed for the children’s museum within the planned new Milwaukee Public Museum. Last year, citing changes in its budget, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum dropped out of those plans and Milwaukee Public Museum moved forward with plans for its new facility.
Additional information on the site selection process will be available in the coming weeks, Betty Brinn Children's Museum said.
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum said today that it had 91,480 guests during the first half of the year, a 76% increase from the first half of 2022. It had record attendance during the first quarter of the year.
