From the Director

On November 29, 2006, Joslyn Art Museum turned 75. From 1931 to today, the Museum has worked to fulfill Sarah Joslyn's vision through an extensive permanent collection, notable special exhibitions, interpretive educational programs, public events, and musical performances. As its diamond jubilee year commences, the Museum has remained an architectural gem of Omaha and has become, as Sarah wished, a major regional center for the visual and performing arts.

Joslyn has evolved over the decades and continues to enhance its mission of excellence. Early in the life of the fledgling art museum, its philosophy spotlighted growth of the collections and education of the public. Throughout the 1950s and '60s, the Museum presented numerous award-winning installations on regional history and culture, making Joslyn something of a "Smithsonian" of Omaha. The exhibition program also expanded to bring to Omaha such nationally acclaimed exhibitions as Scrolls from the Wilderness of the Dead Sea and The Treasures of Tutankhaman's Tomb. In the 1970s, the challenges of modernizing the now 40-year-old Museum's facilities were a priority, along with the continuing effort to position Joslyn regionally, as the only general art museum between Denver and Chicago. Joslyn "went national" in the 1980s with major publications and traveling exhibitions focused on the collection, including Views of a Vanishing Frontier which highlighted the Maximilian-Bodmer Collection, that drew attention from coast to coast. By the 1990s, with ever-expanding collections, exhibitions, and program goals, the Museum had outgrown itself. The Joslyn Memorial received a 58,000-square foot addition in 1994, the dramatic and elegant Walter and Suzanne Scott Pavilion. Renovation of the original 1931 galleries followed in order to make them as up-to-date as the new Scott Pavilion galleries. In the era of the "blockbuster," Joslyn's exhibition program introduced annual "anchor" shows – Degas and the Little Dancer, Searching for Ancient Egypt, Dale Chihuly: Inside & Out, among others – that dramatically drew attention to the institution and increased attendance

As we open our doors to the audiences of the 21st century, we continue to reach toward ever-loftier goals: making Joslyn a center of excellence in Art of the American West; expanding our commitment to contemporary art programs; displaying and circulating outstanding exhibitions of international importance; developing our campus; and strengthening Joslyn's role as an educational and community resource and gathering place. Visit Joslyn's website often for details about current and upcoming programs and events.

J. Brooks Joyner
Director