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the collection—stewarded by Jonathan Canning—is more
relevant than ever, as these types of precious objects are
harder and harder to acquire or even borrow.
Our education programs are an integral part of our
mission. We engage the public and parochial schools in
Chicago through our Push Pin Gallery exhibitions which
provide school-aged children and their teachers with a
chance to call attention to what is being created in their
classroom. Through one of our most popular speaker
series, Tea with the Jesuits, we put a special emphasis on the
scholarly resources that the Jesuits themselves offer. Our
three-year old program, ilLUMAnations, provides those
with early-onset Alzheimer’s and their caregivers a unique
opportunity to work on memory skills through art. We
have great hopes for the future expansion of this program.
At LUMA, we have done things differently and I think
we will continue in this direction. For those of you who
were around in 2005 for our inaugural exhibition, we
essentially “breached museum decorum” by presenting,
with R.A.I. Italia, full-scale, high-resolution digital
reproductions of 69 Caravaggio paintings rather than the
originals.
Caravaggio Una Mostra Impossibile
was a bit
shocking at the time for its use of reproductions, but the
exhibition endures as the most remembered exhibition
mounted at LUMA.
We have eschewed audio tours and much in the way
of electronics, preferring to keep the museum experience
quiet and contemplative, so that visitors can parse out
meanings themselves or have direct conversations with
our docents. We value the intimacy of our small galleries.
We have personalized our appreciation for membership
support by calling or emailing each individual to thank
them, and have created a newsletter that is about people
as well as art. We express our mission bodly in our lobby
through the five Windows of Faith.
Ten years ago, if you did an internet search for LUMA,
you would most likely pull up a lighting company. Now,
LUMA proves to be at the top of the search list; lucky for
us that we have such a wonderful acronym and that it
evokes the idea of light and enlightenment.
On October 9 we are patting ourselves on the back
with a joyous celebratory event,
Divine Decade: A Benefit
Celebrating LUMA’ s 10th Anniversary
.
The After Party
will
cap the evening and the enormous effort that went into
our founding and growth. These events will also serve as
launch pads for the “next beginning” as we move forward
from our strong base as a nationally accredited art
museum. So, now where will we go? Make no small plans,
as a famous Chicagoan said, but instead make big plans,
so that in another ten years, someone will be writing a
similar thank you.
I would like to thank all the past and present members
of our Board of Advisors, who have had a pivotal role in
shaping the museum. Without their guidance, we would
not have come so far, so fast. And to the staff of LUMA,
please accept my deepest appreciation for the long
hours and commitment. We are a team in which every
voice is heard. And, of course, thank you to the Loyola
administration and numerous departments that are the
behind-the-scenes heroes helping us to keep the museum
functioning.
At this special moment, I would like to remember two of
the museum’s strongest early advocates: John Felice, founder
of the Loyola University Chicago John Felice Rome Center,
and Eveylyn Dobson Barriger, docent par excellence.
And finally, I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank
you to Fr. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. He is someone known for
making big plans. Under his stewardship, both the university
and LUMA have been on a journey to excellence.
My very best to everyone and congratulations!
Pamela E. Ambrose
Director of Cultural Affairs
*As an aside, included in
The LUMANARY
is an essay I wrote on the
sad closing of the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA), a sister institution
in New York City with a similar mission.
**Warhol, a closeted Catholic, may have seen the clouds as a metaphor
for walking in heaven; Gorey, Zen master-cum-humorist, was obsessed
by the temporality of life; and Carlos Saura, the great filmmaker,
believed social and religious oppression influenced Flamenco music
and dance.