As we begin another academic year, I find myself marveling at the difference one year can make. I imagine most of us have experienced change to some degree since last September, whether financial change as in watching a nest egg diminish or pounding pavement in search of a new job, or economic change as in looking for ways to reduce expenses, waste, or one’s carbon footprint. Lately I’ve been hearing the phrase, “change is rarely welcomed, often difficult, but always constant.” Positive or negative, change is part of the cycle of life, “the way of the universe,” as a friend likes to remind me, and as always, she follows this comment with the word… “adapt.”

We at the Carlos Museum are doing our best to adapt to the financial and economic changes of this past year and are doing so proactively. You are now reading the Director’s Letter via an eNewsletter. We have made changes in our hours, use of electricity, and even in how we are organizing exhibitions and education programs. As an example, our exhibition design team is recycling building materials from past exhibitions for future projects. While change is often not easy, it is always a learning experience and we believe the Museum will find new and exciting ways to remain dynamic and even prosper in these less than ideal times.

We are very pleased to present, Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century and hope you will plan on attending a number of the education programs we have developed in conjunction with the exhibition. And don’t forget to visit Old Master Highlights of the Works on Paper Collection that is currently on view in the works on paper gallery.

We have been busy this past year and in these pages you will read about various Carlos Museum events and projects including this year’s Baker Award, the completed itinerary of the exhibition on Sir William Flinders Petrie, and the travels of our own Mami Wata, and an interesting collaboration with UGA regarding a very ancient whale shark fossil. And, with a new Fall semester comes a new slate of Board members to welcome… very exciting!

As we contemplate the impact change has had and continues to have on our lives, it behooves us all to remember, as my friend would say, the “constants,” those things that hold steady or those times when we find comfort be they in people, places, or experiences. I hope a constant in your life is the Carlos Museum, a place of learning, reflection, and joy.

As always, I look forward to seeing you in the galleries!

Bonnie Speed
Director