[Noozhawk’s note: Answers have been edited for brevity.]
On Aug. 1, Monica Orozco will become the first layperson to become executive director of the Santa Barbara Mission.
Orozco earned her doctorate in Latin American history from UC Santa Barbara, is a member of the mission’s parish, and for the past seven years has been the head of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library, a nonprofit organization with separate governance that is affiliated with the mission and its friars.
Located at 2201 Laguna St. and founded in 1786 by Spanish Franciscans, the 10th of California’s 21 missions is the only one to have been in continuous operation since its inception.
The executive team also includes Father Adrian Peelo, who represents Saint Barbara Parish, and Brother Regan Chapman, who represents the mission’s Franciscan Fraternity.
Noozhawk: Tell us about yourself, your time at the mission, and how you came to be executive director.
Monica Orozco: My connection with the mission began about 11 or 12 years ago when I came on as a board member for the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive–Library. I was on the board for about five years, and then became director of the Archive-Library seven years ago.
Over the past couple years with the transitions at the mission, I’ve been participating in a lot of the work — especially outreach, as well as some of the governance — in an advisory capacity.
And that’s been my role, as sort of a partner on behalf of the Archive–Library, partnering with the mission to advance both our missions, our outreach programs, and to support each other. That led to my being asked if I was interested in becoming part of the mission officially as executive director. I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to continue to work with the friars, the mission and the Archive-Library — as partners in a different capacity.
This is the first time we’re going to have a layperson as executive director; it’s normally a friar. I will be working with the pastor of the Parish of Saint Barbara, Father Adrian Peelo, and with the guardian of the friar community, Brother Regan Chapman. We’ll be the executive committee, and we’ll work together to advance our missions and to support each other, especially when it comes to maintaining this beautiful historic structure, one that is very much alive.
Noozhawk: What do you want to bring to the position of executive director, and where do you see the mission in the next few years?
MO: As the director of the Archive-Library, I’ve had a unique and advantageous position, off to the side for a while, observing what’s been going on and the changes, and in more recent cases, participating in some of those changes and some of the programming.
It’s going to be an advantage in that I have this outside overview, but I’m also a member of this parish. I’m working with the friars as the director of the Archive-Library, and I’m very aware of the unique challenges of balancing the needs of all the various communities at the mission: the friar community, the parish community, the research community, the broader Santa Barbara community who are very much invested in what’s going on here, and, of course, the community that visits us.
I was born and raised in Santa Barbara, so I think I have an insider’s view of the interests of all these different stakeholders and continue to work to bring those interests together. Partnering is very important, working as a team is very important, and I think I can continue to bring that spirit to what’s going on here.
Noozhawk: As you settle in, what kind of challenges might the mission be facing?
MO: There are challenges that maybe not everyone is aware of.
This is a historic structure, and it’s more than just the convento wing and the church you see in the front; there are also structures in the back, like our archive, and then there’s the interior of these structures.
We recently had a great deal of work done on the outside of the convento wing and on certain parts of the church — the façade and the crypt — that were accomplished through a Save America’s Treasures grant was administered by the California Missions Foundation. That accomplished a great deal, but like any house that is over 200 years old and in some areas maybe over 100 years old or over 75 years old, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. There’s a lot of wear and tear on this place because of the many, many visitors we get.
We have cast-iron pipes that can go at any time — and you can imagine the damage that they would do — but it can be difficult to raise funds to address the inner workings of places like this because people don’t see it.
Our challenge is to communicate to people who want to support us, how they can support us. It’s something that we’ll be working toward in the next year.
The other challenge is to continue to reach out to the community and to welcome the community in a variety of ways — and not just the tourists, although they’re very important and it’s wonderful that we have so many people coming from all over the world.
We want to communicate that we offer something for everybody here — especially people who have lived here all their lives, who might have come here as fourth-graders but might think, “What does the Mission have to offer me now?”
We hope to continue to offer a variety of programming and services and just wonderful experiences for everyone to come and hopefully experience over and over again — and not just come once.
Noozhawk: What kind of role do you think a 230-year-old landmark plays in Santa Barbara?
MO: It’s an interesting question, and I think all you have to do is spend a little time in town to realize that our mission is all over the place.
It’s not only the name of a street — you see the iconic church and its twin bell towers used by businesses, you see it in advertising everywhere, it’s a cultural cornerstone. We have I Madonnari, we have Fiesta Pequeña, we have these important cultural events in town that are based here.
It’s not only a historic structure, it’s a cultural cornerstone for this community and also an important spiritual place for local Catholics. I think it actually has a lot of significance and relevance, and it’s our challenge, it’s our duty to make sure we continue to be relevant and significant.
Noozhawk: Are there any big projects coming up with the mission over the next couple of years?
MO: Outreach to the community, communicating what we do, and hopefully welcoming people with increased programming and more reasons for them to be here.
We’re in a time of transition, where we have friars coming who have been very involved in a variety of ministries. I think we’re going to see an increase in the variety of ministries that will be here, which will be a partnership between the parish and the mission friar community.
I think you’re going to see this place reach out to the community a lot more than it has in the recent past. And that’s our challenge.
We have a very vibrant friar community here right now, and I expect them to be very present. When you come to the mission, you’re going to see the friars out front a lot more than you ever have in the past. It’s something they want to do — they want to connect.
So many children come here, and they think of us as a museum. Although we have a museum component, we’re very much a living mission, and that’s something we have to really make visible and relevant to our community.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.