6 / 24
4
2015 Crèche of the Year
s
ee page 10 for more details!
Francesco Scarlatella, Crèche from Sicily (Caltagirone), 2001, Italy,
terracotta. The James and Emilia Govan Crèche Collection
How long has it been since you visited a
museum where the external world could be
put away for just a moment and you could
contemplate art without distraction? Museums
are not sacred spaces, but they can a stand
in for the quietness of a church, synagogue,
mosque, or temple. At LUMA, we hope to
bring you to art through silence.
As a mid-size academic museum in a city of
superb museums, LUMA is proud of its
many contributions to the city of Chicago.
Looking forward to the next ten years, we will
expand our contributions in surprising ways
for the benefit of our university community
and the general public. We will emphasize the
human spirit through our IlLUMAnations
program, present exhibitions on social justice,
expand our focus on Illinois-based artists,
and create new opportunities to learn. We
also know that wider access to our collections
is important, and so, we will increase our online
access to the D’Arcy, offer an annual Nativity Advent
calendar using the Govan collection, and build a
robust education program for seniors that focuses
on Ignation spirituality. We have additional goals to
expand our museum facilities with more gallery space
for the D’Arcy and more educational programming for
Loyola students and adults. We hope that LUMA may
become a venue for partnerships with other cultural
organizations. All told, the next five years will prove
exhilarating and challenging.
So, I invite you to come along with us on our art
journey and get involved. All of you are stakeholders
in the museum. If you are a member, you own a piece
of LUMA and all the pieces, big and small, constitute
a healthy whole. I started a practice a few years ago of
personally calling or e-mailing every new member or
renewed member to say thank you. I was emboldened
by the old Hertz slogan: “We try harder.” I know that
putting a personal face on LUMA is essential. We are
still small enough that each member deserves special
consideration and appreciation. Most museums have
members, but LUMA has friends, and it will be all of
you who take us into an inspired future.
My deepest thanks to all of you. LUMA’s staff and I
look forward to seeing you very soon.
Pamela E. Ambrose
Director