SUMMER 2009

The Museum mourns the loss of artist, teacher, and friend Frederick Hammersley (1919—2009).

Fredrick Hammersley with his piece, Up Within, which was painted while he was teaching at Pomona College  and is in the museum collection.

Hammersley, who with Karl Benjamin became known as one of the four LA-based Abstract Classicists, died peacefully on May 31 in Albuquerque New Mexico. He was 90 years old. The Museum staff had the pleasure of working with Hammersley and presenting his work to the Claremont community when, in spring 2007, the Museum presented a retrospective of his work “Hunches, Geometrics, Organics: Paintings by Frederick Hammersley.” Later that year, paintings from the College’s collection traveled in the critically lauded exhibition “Birth of the Cool” organized by the Orange County Museum of Art. Hammersley had a long and distinguished exhibition career. His connection with Pomona College began when he was Visiting Professor of Painting from 1953 to 1962 and continued through his enthusiastic participation in the exhibition of 2007 and his generosity to PCMA programs. His work is in the collections of museums across the country, including LACMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Pomona College Museum of Art.

When I wrote the introduction to the catalogue accompanying his retrospective at Pomona College, I began by quoting Frederick on the pleasures of painting; I include an excerpt of that introduction below. I will miss Frederick, the cheery phone calls and the little notes which always included a cartoon, and the unalloyed pleasure he took in art.

“Frederick Hammersley and the Pleasures of Intuition”

 Kathleen Stewart Howe

"I like my paintings for the most part. They give me pleasure. The element of pleasure in looking at paintings is, I think, an important ingredient. Pleasure is the dividend of a well conceived and well made painting. Pleasure is the offspring of the harmonious combination of parts. Pleasure is awareness, the experiencing of a sense of rightness, the feeling of inevitability. Pleasure is the experiencing of the aesthetic. Aesthetics is visual food. "                      

Frederick Hammersley

"Sitting in Frederick Hammersley’s sunroom as the light of a fall morning suffuses the tangerine walls, one begins to understand the deceptively simple statement that his paintings give him pleasure. His work, the space where it is made, where it is savored, where paintings, prints, and drawings clustered in mini-installations engage in quiet conversation or witty repartee, form a constellation of the elements that he defines as pleasure—the heightened awareness, the rightness of a painting and its relationships to other works, to language, and to the physical world. They exist in the harmony of life and work, of thought and emotion."

From Hunches, Geometrics, Organics: Paintings by Frederick Hammersley, Pomona College Museum of Art, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-me-frederick-hammersley6-2009jun06,0,6952693.story
From the Los Angeles Times
OBITUARIES

Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Pomona College Museum of Art, and Professor of Art History, Kathleen Howe, is selected to attend the prestigious Getty Leadership Institute's renowned Museum Leadership Institute (MLI), to be held at the Getty Center July 11 – 31, 2009.

More than 30 museum leaders from across the U.S., England, Canada, Australia, China, and New Zealand will explore the increasingly complex challenges that face today’s museums as part of the Getty Leadership Institute’s renowned Museum Leadership Institute (MLI), to be held at the Getty Center July 11 – 31, 2009. (Kathleen Stewart Howe, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Pomona College Museum of Art, and Professor of Art History will be among them.

Now in its 31st year, MLI continues to be the foremost professional development program for senior museum executives. Participants from around the world, chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants, convene for an intensive executive education program for museum decision-makers. This year’s MLI group includes senior leaders at a wide range of institutions, from the Smithsonian Institution, to Canada’s Vancouver Maritime Museum, and the Tate Modern in London. Other participants include leaders from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in Hong Kong, and the Australian Museum, among others. About one third of the applicants this year come from institutions outside the U.S. Participants were chosen for the program based on their ability to influence policy and effect change at their institutions.

“Museums must operate in an increasingly complex environment and at a faster speed than ever before,” said Getty Leadership Institute Director Phil Nowlen. “Unlike institutions of the past, organizations today must be extremely nimble, embracing rapid change in funding and governance issues, as well as in organizational structure and external regulations,” added
Nowlen.

Over 1,000 museum professionals from the United States and more than 20 countries have attended MLI and are currently responsible for setting the directions at a diverse collection of museums across the globe.

MLI faculty members come from the top ranks of educational institutions, including the University of Southern California, Cambridge University, the University of Virginia, and Center for Creative Leaderships. Coursework covers strategic thinking, finance and organizational behavior, addressing topics such as building public understanding, achieving financial stability, and leading organizational change. Case studies and exercises selected for MLI combine current events and trends with academic theory and best practices. MLI has been offered to the museum field since 1979. It is the primary executive development opportunity of the Getty Leadership Institute (GLI), a program of the Getty Foundation, one of the largest supporters of scholars and cultural organizations throughout the world. In addition to MLI, the GLI also offers a portfolio of other programs designed for administrators, curators, board members, and a variety of other museum professionals. A list of participants is attached. For more information on the GLI, visit http://www.getty.edu/leadership/.

The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts that features the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: The Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu. The Getty Foundation provides support to institutions and individuals throughout the world, funding a diverse range of projects that promote the understanding and conservation of the visual arts and furthering the work of all Getty programs. The Foundation also encompasses the Getty Leadership Institute, the leading source of continuing professional development for current and future museum leaders. Additional information is available at www.getty.edu.
 

Assistant Director/ Registrar Steve Comba Selected to Attend National Conference “Stewardship of America’s Legacy: Answering the Call to Action” Set for June 16, 17 in Buffalo, NY

Steve Comba, Assistant Director/Registrar of the Pomona College Museum of Art has been selected by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to attend a national forum, June 16 and 17, 2009, in Buffalo, New York entitled “Stewardship of America’s Legacy: Answering the Call to Action.” He is one of more than 70 representatives of small and medium-sized museums and libraries nationwide invited to participate based on their leadership in the profession and in their communities.

IMLS’s Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, is a multi-year, multi-faceted national program. The Buffalo event is the final of a series of four national forums held in 2008 and 2009. The meetings have been designed to raise awareness among leaders of small and mid-sized museums, libraries, and archives about the importance of collections care and to give them practical information, tools, and resources to inspire action nationwide.
“Stewardship of America’s Legacy: Answering the Call to Action” will explore how committed individuals, ranging from small town librarians to directors of national conservation training programs, can work together to improve collections care and to inspire and inform others, be it nationally or within their own communities. Speakers will address ways to make the case for funding, address cutting-edge collections care topics, and describe how to use networks to tap into expertise and to engage the public in sustaining our Nation’s collections.
"I am honored to be selected to be part of this national forum", said Mr. Comba. " Having an opportunity to share ideas with peers on a national level is a great opportunity, particularly relevant now, as the Pomona College Museum of Art plans for new ways to increase both awareness and access to its permanent collection.”
IMLS is hosting this forum in cooperation with Heritage Preservation, the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and the Art Conservation Department of Buffalo State College, State University of New York.
The forum has received support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Carol A. Fatta/The Fatta Foundation, the Baird Foundation, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For a complete schedule please go to: http://www.imls.gov/collections/tour/buf_program.htm.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.

About Heritage Preservation
Heritage Preservation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the United States. By identifying risks, developing innovative programs, and providing broad public access to expert advice, Heritage Preservation assists museums, libraries, archives, historic preservation and other organizations, as well as individuals, in caring for our endangered heritage. For more information, please visit www.heritagepreservation.org.
 

Museum Coordinator Jessica Wimbley, has received a two –year appointment on the Board of Directors of Museum Educators of Southern California as the Regional Chair of Inland Empire/High Desert Region.

About Museum Educators of Southern California
The Museum Educators of Southern California was formally founded in 1977, being one of the oldest museum education professional organizations in the country, as well as one of the largest, with over 250 members.
The Museum Educators of Southern California (MESC) is a nonprofit organization for museum professionals whose work is focused on museum audiences. Striving to ensure that museums place education at the center of all of their activities, MESC is dedicated to audience advocacy and enhancing visitor's learning opportunities and experiences. Additionally, MESC works to bring greater diversity to the museum education field, strengthens the role of museum educators within institutions, and provides professional training and development using current research.

MESC promotes excellence in museum education practice by
creating a professional network for its members
striving to reflect the diversity of society in museum audiences and within the profession
providing training and development at all levels of experience
provoking ongoing dialogue of intellectual interest to the members
encouraging research and dissemination on the theory and practice of museum education
increasing awareness among members of the variety of museum resources
serving as an advocate for museum educators.

For more on MESC visit www.mesconline.org