Collections Summer 2014 Volume 100 | Page 2

FROM THE EXECUTIVE Director Welcome to the 100th issue of Collections! Collections captures the heart and soul of our Museum’s activities throughout the year in pictures and in prose. With this issue, we celebrate a milestone in its history. The very first issue of Collections was published in the fall of 1988, and it is amazing to look back through the issues of this magazine at how the Museum has grown and developed over the past 25 years. The magazine was started as a benefit for our members, and has since evolved from a printed piece delivered to your mailbox to an online multimedia publication with music, video, and in-depth commentary. As we refine and grow our collection as well as expand our educational programming for all ages, we see this magazine, in both its online and printed versions, as a way of sharing more of our art with you and making learning about our art collection easier. With the explosion of technology and the desire of museums to be more accessible, Collections provides us with opportunities to share our Museum with a wide and diverse audience across cities, counties, and borders and to give you access to the CMA with the click of a button. In fact, like all of our sister museums in the 21st century, we are now a museum that touches people all over the world. Karen Brosius Executive Director Over these 100 issues, we have told the stories of artists, their work, and the times in which they lived. Each of these works in our collection, as well as those on loan from private and public lenders, tells a unique story. Collections is our conduit to inspire and inform you, our readers, by touching your lives through our many programs throughout the year. It is exciting to reach you beyond the printed page by enhancing these stories with content you can easily explore on the web. And what amazing stories we have to tell. The CMA offers great art from around the world that is always eye-opening, broadening, and enriching. The stories of this issue and those of the past illustrate how the CMA is always embracing the new and exciting, the contemplative and inspiring, and the most outstanding art to bring to the region. Please enjoy this landmark 100th edition of our voice to you. We hope the stories of artists and their works found at the CMA will entertain and enrich you for years to come. Board Member Highlight: Tod Augsburger Serving as the centerpiece of the Midland’s arts and entertainment sector, the CMA plays a significant role in the economic development of our community. Clearly there is economic benefit to other businesses when visitors from out-of-town tour the museum and then stay to enjoy the many fine restaurants and shopping establishments nearby. However, the more significant impact is the positive role the CMA plays in the relocation of people to our community. In my role with Lexington Medical Center, we are continually recruiting medical professionals to move to the Midlands. Today, young professionals are 2 columbiamuseum.org choosing the community where they want to live and then seeking employment options—not the reverse as was typical in the past. The CMA inspires a vibrant, diverse, arts and entertainment community that is an attractive and essential recruitment tool to all of our businesses. I am honored to serve on the board of trustees and hope that I can contribute to the continued growth and recognition of this economic jewel that helps all of us in so many ways.