Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

Parents' Choice Award winner Douglas Love named CEO of Explore & More

Submitted

Tue, Jan 5th 2016 05:00 pm

Explore & More Children's Museum has named Douglas Love to the position of CEO. Love, a seasoned leader and innovator in children's entertainment and educational programs, was identified for the Children's Museum by the Buffalo-based firm of Performance Management Partners in a local and nationwide search.

"Douglas Love has over 25 years of experience leading cultural organizations and developing educational content for children. He's an expert at opening and running new institutions and creating destination venues for children and families. Central to all of his work is his unique and effective vision that sparks the fire of imagination in young minds," said Sharon Randaccio, president and CEO of Performance Management Partners.

"We were looking for a rock star leader to take us to the next level as a world-class institution on the waterfront, and Douglas exceeded all of our expectations. He is not only going to be a visionary leader for Explore & More, but also a tremendous community asset and contributor to the new Buffalo," said Matt Davison, managing partner of Martin Davison Public Relations and president of Explore & More's board of directors.

Love is the creator of World Book Encyclopedia's "Dramatic Learning," the most popular online arts education program in the world with 11 million paid subscribers in 23 countries, providing teachers with lessons and plays for standards-based core curriculum. Love is also a creator of and contributor to World Book Kids at www.worldbook.com, the largest English-language-based children's reference site with more than 20 million paid subscribers.

Formerly the CEO of Walden Family Playhouse, a live entertainment and education venture of Anschutz Film Group, Love managed the building and launch of this $27 million educational institution in Denver, raising additional funds to ensure children living in poverty could access the programs.

Love was the creator and executive producer of Disney's top-rated daytime television series, "Out of the Box" (winning three Parents' Choice Awards and an Emmy nomination), as well as the animated series "Jammin' Animals" for HBO.

In addition, as producing director of Shorenstein Hays Nederlander's FAMILYSTAGE - San Francisco, Love worked with Mayor Gavin Newsom's office, the San Francisco County Library System and the San Francisco Unified School District in a countywide literacy and arts project. The program provided free copies of the novel "Holes" to all fifth-graders, as well as guaranteed attendance at a professional stage adaptation of the book performed at the landmark Orpheum Theatre.

Love comes to Explore & More from the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, where he has been staging a large-scale professional musical production of "Rock Odyssey," based on Homer's epic poem. To date, more than 250,000 fifth-graders in the county experience the production free of charge, which serves as a jumping-off point for standards-based learning with Love's specially designed curriculum and lesson plans tied to Common Core standards.

A published author of over 30 works for HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Disney Press and others, Love is a widely noted expert on educational programming, curriculum and arts education. He has served as the creativity expert for ABC News and Lifetime television, and has taught for the University of Miami Professional Theater Conservatory.

"Having spent the last two and a half decades creating experiential, arts-based educational opportunities for children, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to grow and expand Explore & More into an iconic and impactful institution for the City of Buffalo and beyond. The task ahead of us is monumental, but the impact will be, as well," Love said.

As the Baltimore Sun noted, "Love has the ability to inspire interest in your own creativity."

Celebrating its 21st year in operation, Explore & More Children's Museum provides an environment for creative play and learning through hands-on exhibits, activities and programs that inspire creativity, curiosity and imagination.

Explore & More Children's Museum is currently located at 300 Gleed Ave., East Aurora. It will open in the South Aud Block at Canalside on the Buffalo waterfront in the second half of 2018. For more information, visit www.exploreandmore.org or call 716-655-5131, ext. 11.

Hometown News

View All News