director’s message

The summer passed so quickly! We closed the exhibition Eye on the Sixties:Vision, Body, and Soul: Selections from the Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson on June 15, 2008 after an amazing six-month run. The de Saisset Museum was proud to host this exhibit that focused on the artistic production of the 1960s, with a special emphasis on art made in California. Many thanks to the Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and curator and SCU associate professor Andrea Pappas for making this exhibition a success.

With the Spring exhibition closed, we focused our attention on completing documentation for the Museum’s re-accreditation with the American Association of Museums. We assembled seven binders full of information about the Museum: leadership and organizational structures; mission and planning; collections stewardship; education and interpretation; financial stability; and facilities and risk management. We will be planning for a site visit to meet with AAM re-accreditation reviewers for an on-site visit at the Museum in the coming year.

The Museum also completed a major flooring project this summer, with bamboo planks replacing the carpet in Gallery I and II. In alliance with the University’s efforts to “go green,” the bamboo flooring is an environmentally low-impact choice. We hope you will enjoy the exciting new look in these galleries.

With Fall’s arrival, we welcome students and visitors back to the campus and the Museum with three powerful exhibitions: Evri Kwong: Just Pretend Everthing’s OK, Winter in America, and The Hapa Project. These exhibitions will provide many opportunties for our audience to reflect on and discuss timely issues of social justice and identity. I hope you will join us for some of the programs related to the exhibitions and renew your membership in support of them. See you in the galleries soon!

Rebecca M. Schapp, Director