You should be receiving this edition of Passport just before the Holiday Season and it is a perfect time for me to wish each and every one of you the very best as we close out 2011. It’s been a very active year for us at the Bowers as we started 2011 with an innovative exhibition about Ben Franklin, switched gears dramatically with the rare opportunity to present the very best of the world renowned Etsuko and Joe Price collection of Japanese Edo Period paintings, and closed out the year with our Warriors, Tombs, and Temples exhibition. This year we also opened our intimate PIMCO Foundation Gallery with the fine art carvings of Harold Van Pelt followed by Scrimshaw: Art of the American Whaler from the collection of Dr. Burton Fink. I’m very pleased to announce that as a result of this exhibition, Dr. Fink is donating this important Scrimshaw collection to the Bowers. We also had a stellar group of speakers and programs, not the least of which was Wade Davis from National Geographic and a memorable evening with Zahi Hawass, former antiquities minister of Egypt.

We’re very excited as we look ahead to 2012. Warriors will be with us until the beginning of March and by the end of March we’ll be celebrating a “Golden Spring” at the Museum with a major collection of pre-Colombian gold from the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, Colombia and, in the PIMCO Foundation Gallery, California Gold from the collection of Wayne and Dona Leicht. I think you’ll find that California gold in it’s natural form is shockingly beautiful. By July we’re looking at bringing an exhibition of Fabergé carvings, and close out the year with CUT, an exhibition of Academy Award Gowns. In 2012 we’ll be continuing our Distinguished Lecture series, bringing Ed Krupp in January and Wade Davis back in March.

There is no avoiding the challenging economic times that we’re all facing in our daily lives. We’re very proud of the exhibitions and programs that we bring to enhance the lives of Californians. However, we’re equally proud of what we do for the children of Santa Ana and Orange County as art is all but eliminated from the school curriculum, and for some, just staying in school is a challenge. We have put out our Annual Appeal this year to ask for your support in helping the children; either by enhancing their lives though visits to see some of the world’s finest art and culture, participating in art classes that are no longer available in the classroom, or helping to provide a clean, safe environment for the most challenged of these children in our After School Program. I hope you can help us to help them.

Peter C. Keller, Ph.D.