Our world has changed in profound ways in the past several months. All of us at the AMAM want to express our sympathy to those who are dealing with negative health consequences from the coronavirus, those who continue to suffer from the many effects of systemic racism and injustice, and those who are experiencing financial hardship. We believe passionately in the power of art to educate; we also know that it has power to heal and sustain, and can provide solace in the most challenging of circumstances.

Thus it is difficult that we cannot welcome you back to the museum at the present moment, as, ideally, we would wish to do. But to best support the health of our communities, these times demand caution, and so, in concert with guidance from Oberlin College, we are entering a phased reopening process. On August 25, we opened by appointment to holders of Oberlin College IDs, and on September 8, we began to provide regular, limited, hours to them. We hope to be able to open more broadly to you, our members and supporters, and to the general public, in the coming months. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Weltzheimer/Johnson house is also temporarily closed. We will update you about any changes to our admission policy through our website and social media channels.

Since we closed the museum in mid-March, AMAM staff undertook heroic efforts to continue their robust support of the college curriculum and to offer an array of virtual public programs using digital channels. This continues today, as college classes resume, and as we look to connect with you through online events and posts. We have been using our changed circumstances to consider how we can serve you better, and will soon launch a new website, a virtual museum tour, and a new, cell phone-based audio guide. We hope these technologies will keep you close to, and inspired by, the AMAM’s remarkable collection, no matter where you find yourself.

Oberlin students and alumni are the lifeblood of the museum, and we are profoundly sad to have lost several good friends—each of whom made significant contributions to the museum’s collection—recently. I was fortunate to get to know Christie Campbell ’52, J. Richard “Jud” Judson ’49, and Al McQueen ’52, and to hear from them about the ways Oberlin and the amam positively affected their lives. In the following pages, you can read more about Christie—whose bequest included the first Joseph Albers painting to enter the collection—and Jud, who helped secure one of our most important collections, that of his uncle and aunt Joseph and Enid Bissett.

A sculptural relief by the Nigerian artist Lamidi Fakeye, which depicts a Yoruba priest and mothers with ritual offerings, is one of five African works we recently received as a generous bequest from Professor McQueen, who passed away in May 2019. He was instrumental in founding the college’s Africana studies department, and we are grateful for his gifts, which expand our collection of works by African artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Al’s cheerful presence on campus and at Kendal at Oberlin will be greatly missed.

As visitors to the museum, you, too, are greatly missed. We look forward to welcoming you back when we can. In the meantime, please stay safe and well.

Andria Derstine
John G. W. Cowles Director