Sarah Crawford is experiencing something of a homecoming in taking a post as director of exhibitions at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section.

The Flint, Mich., native studied at the former Art Institute of Pittsburgh from 2001-04, earning a degree in graphic design. One of the things that drew her to Pittsburgh back then was the city’s impressive library system.

“I was blown away by the architecture,” she said.

She actually had her first view of the CMNH dinosaur exhibit by looking down through the windows of the adjacent Carnegie Library.

Crawford joined the museum on Nov. 23, relocating from Los Angeles with her husband, Evan Burbridge.

She formerly served as Senior Manager of Exhibition Design and Development at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Prior to that, she was an exhibition developer at the San Diego Museum of Us in San Diego and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

After graduating from the Art Institute, she also worked as an art director at Elisco Advertising and Blattner Bruner agencies in Pittsburgh. She left the city to earn a master of fine arts degree in museum exhibition planning and design from University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Telling stories

“I’m thrilled to return to Pittsburgh and to become part of this amazing community once again,” Crawford said. “It’s such an honor to join the team of this beloved museum and the entire Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh family.

“As a native of a Rust Belt city in a Rust Belt state, I’m inspired to see another city with a Rust Belt background doing well,” she said. “I’m looking forward to learning about the changes Pittsburgh has gone through and becoming familiar with it again.”

Crawford has developed 18 permanent, temporary and traveling exhibitions including “The Cyrus Tang Hall of China,” “Mummies: Images of the Afterlife,” “PostSecret” and “Rise Up LA: A Century of Votes for Women.”

Crawford arrives as the museum embarks on “an interpretive master plan that will guide a re-framing of the museum’s classic content while looking to the future with a focus on the Anthropocene, the proposed name of the current geological age of profound human impact on all planetary systems,” according to a release.

“I know how passionate Pittsburghers are about their city and about Pennsylvania,” Crawford said. “I’m hoping to be able to tell more stories about their city and the state, and I know the museum is interested in that, too.

“I’m also looking forward to learning more about the wonderful work our scientists are doing in the city,” she added.

“From a very impressive group of candidates, Sarah emerged as a clear favorite,” said Stephen Tonsor, Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Interim Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “Her ingenuity and aesthetic in exhibit design, her mastery in making the most of her budget, her embrace of the collaborative ethic we’ve been working on in the natural history museum, and her unbridled enthusiasm made it clear to us that she is the kind of leader we’ve been seeking.”

Crawford was selected following a national search by Museum Search & Reference, a firm in Manchester, N.H., and Boston, Mass. She succeeds Becca Shreckengast, who left the museum earlier in the year.

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