From the Director

For two glorious days in July the museum staff went on retreat. Susan Bonneville Weatherbie (class of 1972), chair of the museum's advisory board, royally hosted us at her New Hampshire summer "camp" on the shores of Squam Lake. Loon calls from across the water provided a splendid background for our discussions about long-range planning, maintaining fiscal stability, and preparing for accreditation by the American Association of Museums. It was gratifying for us to pause from hectic routines to take a broader overview of operations and programs, especially in relation to the museum's mission and long-term goals.

We've come a long way since 1999 when we began the strategic planning process. That fall, after lengthy conversations among ourselves, the museum staff had focus-group discussions with members of the campus community, senior administrators of the college, the museum's advisory board, and constituencies beyond the college. As a result we developed a strategic plan based on existing strengths, weaknesses, and a vision for the future-especially with a view toward the renovation and expansion of the facility that was scheduled for 2001-02. Indeed, the expansion itself has changed how we do our work and serve our audiences. Many more objects from the permanent collection are on view in the galleries. And with reorganized and expanded storage spaces, we can more safely and efficiently retrieve objects for use by classes and visiting scholars.

Our primary goal is to serve Mount Holyoke students and faculty by integrating the museum more effectively into the curricular and co-curricular life of the college and to enhance the mission of the college. Our progress is palpable in a variety of ways. The museum has strengthened collaborative relationships with departments and programs across campus. Exhibitions we develop and related public events have substantive links with courses or special initiatives in other areas of the college. Work/study positions for students, as well as curatorial and administrative internships, provide opportunities for hands-on experience in a museum environment. For the first time, we have waiting lists for all positions. Membership in student volunteer organizations, especially in the museum's education program, has mushroomed as well.

A secondary goal is to raise the profile of the museum nationally. There is progress to report on this front, too. Last year, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, The Magazine Antiques, American Art Review, and many other regional and national media featured the museum's programs. That the collections are more widely known is evidenced by the number of objects on loan. Currently objects from our museum are on view at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University; The National Academy of Design in New York City; the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph-Macon Woman's College; the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh; the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts; and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Siena, Italy. In a New York Times article last fall about the exhibition, Changing Prospects: The View from Mount Holyoke, that inaugurated the largest new gallery, Grace Glueck wrote, "It's an auspicious debut." We like to think she was right.

—Marianne Doezema
Florence Finch Abbott Director

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