Museum Planning Consultant Randi Korn

I Don’t Spend Time in Traffic. Intentionally.

Photo by Aaron Salcido.

Randi Korn is founding director of Randi Korn & Associates, Inc., a museum planning firm that partners with cultural organizations to create new services that will help them excel. She has previously served as an executive director, exhibition designer, and interpretive planner at art, history, science, and natural history museums. Before participating in a panel asking “What Does the Public Want from the Arts?” at a Zócalo conference in downtown Los Angeles entitled “What Can the World Teach California About Arts Engagement?” she answered some questions in the green room about her walk to work, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and finding the essence of her passion.

Q:

What’s on your fridge?


A:

Nothing. It’s wood. It’s all about the food inside.


Q:

What do you do to pass time in traffic?


A:

I don’t. I walk to work. I live in Alexandria and it’s a lovely one mile walk to work. That was intentional.


Q:

What place in D.C. do you recommend to out of town visitors?


A:

I always think of museums. I used to say the Corcoran. But it’s no longer as it was. I used to view it as D.C.’s museum, but that’s over. I love the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery. It celebrates ingenuity through making things: It’s crafts. It’s small. It can really lift you.


Q:

What do you do to relax?


A:

Cooking magazines. All things about food. And books about urban agriculture.


Q:

What’s different about you now compared to 10 years ago?


A:

I have found the essence of my passion, which is helping organizations achieve their intended impact. And I have found that instead of engaging with individuals, I need to work with the whole organization.


Q:

What kind of salad dressing would you be?


A:

Simple is best. A little olive oil and a few sprinkles of sea salt is all you need on fresh picked lettuce. That well describes me.


Q:

Where would you time travel to?


A:

At the beginning of this country, when 95 percent of the land was agricultural, and it was the old agriculture with nature, not with chemicals. In the 1700s when they were working the land to live.


Q:

Is that Jeffersonian?


A:

Yes. Jefferson was the only president who was a scientist and he understood the way nature worked.


Q:

What’s your favorite piece of music?


A:

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It totally relaxes me. It was the first piece of classical music I was introduced to. It makes me think about my youth.


Q:

Did you have a childhood nickname?


A:

Yes. It’s cornball. I’m not gonna explain it.