BLACHFORD JOINS MINGEI INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM BOARD OF TRUSTEES

DATE: Dec 23, 09

Norman Blachford, retired businessman and philanthropist, has joined the Board of Trustees of Mingei International Museum. A native of Montreal, Canada, he received a chemistry degree from the Sir George Williams University and a post graduate business administration degree from McGill University. Shortly after graduation he founded a company in Michigan that manufactured noise control material for the transportation industry in North America. After selling the firm to a German company in 1990, he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona and then to La Jolla to pursue his interest in philanthropy.

A generous supporter of Mingei International, Mr. Blachford has been a member of Museum’s Director’s Circle for many years. Currently on the board of Mainly Mozart, he has served as its treasurer and been involved in its endowment building initiative. Blachford also serves on the San Diego AIDS Foundation Board. Past service includes the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation board and the Gamma Mu Foundation, an organization to assist AIDS patients in rural areas. In 2000 he established with Peter Cooper the Blachford-Cooper Foundation, which has given funds to institutions including the Neurosciences Institute, The Salk Institute, Mainly Mozart, The Old Globe, The Human Dignity Foundation and The Point Foundation.

Dr. Roger Cornell and community activist and philanthropist Barbara Joy Marriott-Wilcox have rejoined the board replacing Mary Rand Taylor, whose term was completed, and James F. Mulvaney who has been named a life trustee. Other trustees are Jack Charney, James P. Kemp, M.D., David Rinehart, FAIA, Joanne Warren, Richard Woltman and Terri Peterson Zimdars.

Officers of Mingei International’s board of trustees are Frances Hamilton White, chairman, John Seiber, vice chairman, Betty-Jo Petersen, secretary, Robert K. Wolford, treasurer and Carolyn Owen-Towle, corresponding secretary and volunteer liaison. Maureen Pecht King is immediate past chairman and Martha W. Longenecker is founding president and director emerita.


Mingei International Museum exhibits folk art, craft and design from all eras and cultures of the world. Its two museums – in Balboa Park and downtown Escondido – feature Southern California’s largest and richest collection of mingei – art of the people. For information, call 619-239-0003 or visit www.mingei.org.

Mingei International Museum is funded in part by The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and The County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program.