As we close this fiscal year at the end of June and look forward to a new year and new season beginning this fall, we can proudly say we've had a wonderful and productive 2009-2010. We continue to fulfill our mission and provide cultural leadership for the community through educational, school-related programs, and studio art and humanities programs, in addition to our engaging exhibitions and the acquisition of ten important works of art for the permanent collection.

We cannot thank you enough for your suppport through your membership dollars, your sponsorships of programs, and your attendance at events and exhibitions, public programs and Museum Art School classes.

Five years ago we developed a strategic plan for the Museum and set a course to ensure its future through enhanced internal controls, solid fiscal planning, enhanced programs and exhibitions, reaccreditation by the American Association of Museums, strong marketing, and to ensure that its building and facilities supported the Museum's mission and vision.

Our vision for the future, therefore, included a new master plan for the facility that was developed and recently adopted by the Board of Trustees. This summer we will begin to address the myriad issues we face with the physical plant by first creating a vestibule at the front door, and also plan for the installation of an atrium, to be known as the Laura and William C. Buck Atrium, over the Wahlstrom Sculpture Garden, to better control the climate in the Museum and permit use of the area year-round. We will also be redesigning the north plaza garden into an extension of the Alice and Jim Beckwith Sculpture Park to best present works from the Museum's permanent collection of outdoor works. The addition of a two-story Collections and Exhibitions wing will follow at the close of our 25th Anniversary Celebration in the summer of 2011 to secure the safety of our permanent collection. We will continue to keep you informed as plans for our future develop.

The Museum will remain open this summer during these initial renovations, and we ask for your patience during the three-month construction period beginning in June. The Museum's front entrance will be closed and all visitors, students in the Museum Art School and the attendees of the children's Summer Art Camp will enter through the door to the Hazel Education Wing. We anticipate a wonderful and productive summer. Come Celebrate Art with us and enjoy all the Museum has to offer.

Lucinda H. Gedeon, Ph.D.
Executive Director/CEO