Writer Louise Palermo and poppies from the Stonehenge Memorial project.
Contributed photo
As of July 10, I am a 67-year-old woman actively working as Curator of Education at Maryhill Museum of Art. Often the first question I’m asked is about retirement. Let’s set aside the age-bias to focus on the most important aspect of my first sentence. I am actively working in a career that, while sometimes challenging, is soul-fulfilling and rewarding. It speaks to the saying, “find a thing to do that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life!” I’ll add that you will also not think about retirement a day in your life, as well.
Like many people my age, my younger years were spent at home raising my children and supporting my spouse’s career. When my marital status and life changed in my 40’s, I used my many volunteer positions to fill out my resume and landed my first museum job. (My volunteer track record and a can-do spirit!) This entry-level job was challenging and physical, but also gave me insight into the potential for museum education to enrich my own life and others’! I carried this thought to the many job interviews that followed (where I had to prove age was a number and not a measure of success or failure). Some couldn’t get past the gray hair. Others gave me opportunities.
My career path took me to a natural history museum, an aquarium, a science museum, and art museums, where I am today. Through my journey, I have become knowledgeable about the lives of spiders, whales, sharks, and other living things. (I had a shark named after me, and have helped thousands of people get over their spider fear through my pet tarantula.)
Louise Palermo celebrates her 65th birthday wing-walking over the Puget Sound.
Contributed photo
I began working at a major art museum in Los Angeles where I learned about conservation, art history, mythology, gardens as art, architecture, and the best way to encourage visitors to look closely and make discoveries there.
At the age of 60, I found myself where I am today, at a special, small museum on the very edge of the Columbia River. Far from cities or even towns, its existence is all the more important for the number of people it impacts, as some of its patrons may not otherwise have museum opportunities. The collections are world-class and deserve their spotlight. It was this detail that most attracted me. Fundraising can be challenging due to location, but the potential is huge. It takes someone with a mature experience to realize impact has little to do with size and everything to do with spirit!
With shirtsleeves rolled up, my one-person department realized that survival and growth depended on the Community and our ability to interconnect and interact. My program development kept ‘community’ in the forefront. Examples are the 50- state Stonehenge Poppy Project, and “The Exquisite Gorge Project,” involving 220-miles of the Columbia River and over 15 Communities and 13 artists along this stretch-- resulting in a grand-scale work of art.
These fast-paced projects rely on the resilience of the organizer (me), and their success on my years of experience with past failures and successes. I have learned to trust and let go, so that the truly amazing volunteers create meaningful engagement and enrichment for everyone.
My life is still filled with ambition to create more unique and rich experiences for this beautiful part of the USA. It is an honor to surround myself with friends of all ages who share this energy. I am not tired. I have spirit. I have ideas!! I envision the next wonderful learning opportunity and the joy it will bring. Working this way is vitality and life.
I tell people who ask when I’m going to retire, “I’ll retire at lunchtime on the day of my funeral.” To contribute throughout my life: that is my goal. Numbers are numbers and everyone has health issues, no matter the age. These are not definitions of me. Now excuse me while I get back to work!
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