Frankly, after the Terra Cotta Warriors, I thought that we just about reached our peak. It turns out that there is a new and exciting challenge just ahead that includes bringing 3,800 year old Caucasian mummies here from China. These mummies are quite a mystery because they all have European features and wear clothing typical of this region of the world. What is particularly thrilling is that these mummies have never been allowed to travel to the U.S. and it will be another first to present them here at the Bowers. The exhibition is entitled Secrets of the Silk Road: Mystery Mummies of China and it opens on March 27, 2010. After the Bowers, the mummies will travel to at least two other venues in the U.S. before they return to the Urumqi Museum.
 
Along with these groundbreaking opportunities, the past few months have been quite busy around the museum. After our V.P. of Education, Linda Kahn, retired to take up her love of hiking full-time in the beautiful mountains of Idaho, we found a familiar face to replace her–Nancy Warzer-Brady–who held this position for several years before she left for the Orange County Performing Arts Center. We’re delighted to have her back! In other news, Thuy Nguyen, the museum’s CFO, was honored at our Board’s Annual Dinner with the Anne Shih Award for her tireless work during the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibition. This award is an elegant crystal bowl generously donated by Tiffany & Company. 
 
We have a busy fall coming up, and I hope to see you at our many programs focusing on the exhibitions The Baroque World of Fernando Botero and LATITUDES: Latin American Masters from the FEMSA Collection. Right after Christmas, we’ll open an impressive photography exhibition, Where Masks Still Dance: New Guinea, featuring black-and-white images by acclaimed documentary photographer Chris Rainier as a prelude to Spirits and Headhunters: Art of the Pacific Islands, an exhibition that opens in February 2010. See you at the Bowers!

Peter C. Keller