Planned downtown Modesto museum to showcase hundreds of iconic dolls. What will be there

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As a child, playing with Barbies inspired her to know that she could be anything she wanted to be. Years later, they have inspired her to open a museum dedicated to the iconic dolls.

Lourdes Uranday plans an October opening for the Be Anything Museum (BAM!) in downtown Modesto.

The name is a riff on a slogan by toymaker Mattel, “You Can Be Anything,” for its line of Barbie dolls.

Uranday said she got her motivation to be anything playing with Barbies while growing up in Visalia. She was a farm worker and was the first in her family to go to college, attending Fresno State. She has a master’s degree in business administration.

“I was always motivated to do whatever I wanted,” said Uranday, who has lived in Modesto for 16 years. “Being the youngest of four girls in my family, I always got the dolls (handed down). I got a lot of Barbies and I enjoyed playing with them at the time and (have) enjoyed collecting them as an adult.”

That collection will be on display at the new museum and features more than 350 dolls that span several decades.

There are Barbies representing a variety of careers, ethnicities and cultures in the collection, Uranday said. Some of Barbie’s friends and family such as Ken, Midge, cousin Francie and sister Skipper will be on exhibit.

She also will display carrying cases and other Barbie items, such as an airplane and a Corvette spawned from the recent “Barbie” film, an older remote-control Corvette and furniture items.

And there will be plenty of clothes, shoes and other accessories.

Uranday, 56, started intentionally collecting Barbies when she was about 18 or 19, she said, though some of the items in the exhibit will be those she played with as a child.

About her own career

While BAM! is a museum, “it’s also a motivational center,” she said. “Its about how people can be anything (they set out to be).”

Uranday set her sights on being in the professional world. She worked in human resources at major corporations, including Foster Farms, she said.

“My career has been over 30 years in human resources ... offering people a job is offering them a career,” she said. “I had a great career, traveled the world.”

She has since retired from corporate human resources and is CEO of her business consulting firm, Lourdes Uranday Consulting, and is a human resources consultant and business adviser with America’s SBDC (Small Business Development Center) throughout Northern California.

Now she’s adding museum executive director to her resume. She has covered most of the space’s funding herself but also has sponsors from the community, she said.

The cost to open the nonprofit will be about $20,000, Uranday said, with an annual budget of $80,000. She hopes to raise that money through grants she’s applying for, “big and small,” as well as sponsorships and donations.

She has received one start-up grant through the California Association of Museums. “It was only $2,500, but that went a long way to get us up and running,” Uranday said.

There is a board of directors for the museum: President Roman Scanlon, Treasurer Madhu Singh, Ana Andrade, Judy Darner and Terri Isaac.

There also are several volunteers to man the museum when it opens. Uranday hopes to ultimately pay them with grant funding, she said.

The museum is set for a Modesto Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting and grand opening Oct. 9. Hours are planned to be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

BAM! is at 1111 I St., Suite 105. Patrons should enter through the glass entry in the alley, Uranday said. At the beginning, museum admission will be by donation, but eventually is expected to be $10, with promotions and discounts available.

While not yet completed, the website, BeAnythingMuseum.org, is coming soon. Call 209-422-6807 for information, or email BeAnythingMuseum@gmail.com.

Uranday also hopes to have schools visit and plans to have silhouettes of Barbie and Ken on which children can draw what they want to be when they grow up, she said.

The vast variety of Barbies made by Mattel show children that they can be anything – doctor, volleyball player, career woman, Uranday said. And with Latina dolls, Black dolls and dolls from cultures all over the world, there are no limits.

“I want to help other people be successful,” she said. “I feel like I’ve made it and I want to pass that on to others.”