My first order of business with this first update of the New Year is rather pleasant. My thanks to the students, faculty and staff at Florin High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District, South Sacramento, California, for their hospitality during my visit last October. At the invitation of Vice Principal Donald Gordon and Art teacher David Cole, I introduced advance placement students to the National Museum of Murals and Mosaics. Under the leadership of Principal Mark Ceruti, Florin High School students provide a fine example of citizenship and community. The international reach and character of the museum fits with the international makeup of the students at Florin High where 28 different languages are spoken. Special thanks to my long-time friend Donald Gordon and his family for the wonderful time and many kindnesses shown to me during my stay with them. Last, to the students at Florin High School, I look forward to receiving images of murals and mosaics from the Sacramento area. Images may be sent to my electronic mailbox at mholmes@muralsandmosaics.org.
The arrival of a new year brings new opportunities for growth and improvement. The board of directors and the staff of the National Museum of Murals and Mosaics look forward to accomplishing both in the year ahead. Before discussing plans for 2008, I would like to review some of the achievements in 2007 that contributed to our growth as a museum operating in a very unique venue. We are grateful that our newest board member, Ms. Debra Glabeau, president of the New England design firm Great Island, quickly assumed a leadership role and now guides the development of our appearance on the Internet and other elements associated with our look. Another board member Mr. Mark Luckman lent his business expertise and provided assistance to me and other museum staff in meeting and greeting corporate executives at the New York Photo Show this past October.
Developments on the museum staff side include Jonathan McSparran solidifying his reputation as an outstanding writer with his recent article about the Creation Project which examined public art in the Czech Republic. Jonathan’s article is posted on the museum’s Perspectives section. Veteran museum staffer and senior writer Gabriel Stuart continued producing high quality work. Gabriel’s latest offering is a piece on graffiti in Spain. John Pettit made a smooth transition from the technical side of museum operations to the writing staff. We are pleased that his first piece as a writer will be posted to the featured artist section soon. Although we lost a writer we were fortunate in gaining the talent of Rahul Bhatnagar who is currently hard at work putting together a feature about public art in the Chicago area. We were able to complete initial website design changes largely through the efforts of Webmaster Larry Banks.
Looking ahead expect to see Diego Rivera’s The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City, which comes to the National Museum of Murals and Mosaics courtesy of the San Francisco Art Institute. We’ll be getting our first mural images from the Far East when Gabriel Stuart’s story about Indonesian art is merged with beautiful photos taken by mural artist Michael Webb. Research Assistant Andy Rosati sent some stunning mural images from Oviedo, Spain that will be posted soon. Andy is completing a study abroad semester and in his last message he says he is enjoying it immensely. We look for more from him in the future.
Thank you for visiting the National Museum of Murals and Mosaics and I look forward to your next visit when I hope you will bring a friend with you.
Sincerely,
Marc Holmes III
President
