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Director’s MessageThe fall season in Gainesville is always one of energy and excitement as the University of Florida, Santa Fe Community College and community schools look forward to the challenges and rewards of a new academic year.

Heightening the usual fall enthusiasm, this year the University of Florida embarks on a Capital Campaign to raise more than $1 billion by 2012. The Capital Campaign campus-wide kick-off events on Friday, Sept. 28, will allow UF’s colleges and units to showcase their special qualities, programs, students and faculty. The Harn will host a special lecture by Indianapolis Museum of Art Director Maxwell L. Anderson, a public reception, gallery talks by museum curators and art class demonstrations. These events will allow visitors to discover the exciting research undertaken by Harn curators, along with the many programs made possible through the support of museum members and donors.

The Harn Museum welcomes 11 interns and two graduate assistants who will be working in five departments of the museum this semester. They come from three UF colleges and represent eight academic majors. We hope they will learn and grow professionally while sharing with us their knowledge, ideas and talents.

The Museum Nights agency, directed this year by UF art history major Kelli Wood, plans educational programming and entertainment for Thursday evenings at the Harn Museum. UF Student Government’s support for Museum Nights is highly valued by all those who benefit from this innovative program. A new group of Museum University Student Educators (MUSEs) is preparing a series of interactive gallery experiences that will engage visitors in art explorations on certain Thursday evenings throughout the year. They will also participate in the Capital Campaign kick-off event.

This academic year, as always, the Harn will engage in creative collaborations with faculty from a number of UF colleges. These academic partnerships are at the heart of the museum’s mission to advance teaching and research and serve as a catalyst for creative engagement between the university and diverse audiences.

Sincerely,Rebecca Martin Nagy, Ph.D.Director

Mark Your CalendarFor information about membership or any of the below events contact Tracy Pfaff at 352.392.9826 x154 or e-mail tpfaff@harn.ufl.edu.

Wednesdays After WorkWednesday, September 26, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Katherine Lyons, director of corporate relations at The Museum of Modern Art, will speak during the Harn’s quarterly networking event about the impact and importance of corporate museum support. Lyons is responsible for overseeing MoMA’s $2.5 million corporate membership program with nearly 200 members. She also helps secure corporate support for exhibitions, special events, education programs, general museum operations, capital projects and MoMA’s affiliate, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. Admission is free for Harn Business and Professional Friends members and $15 for prospective members.

Members’ pARTyFriday, October 5, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Join us as we celebrate the opening of our newest exhibitions. Due to the ever-growing number of Harn members, we will begin requesting R.S.V.P. ’s for members’ pARTies, helping us to better anticipate the number of attendees and better utilize your membership dollars. There will be an R.S.V.P. e-mail address and phone number listed on the next members’ pARTy invitation for your convenience.

Toshiko Takaezu, White Closed-Form Vessel, 1990s, gift of the artist in memory of Caroline J. Rister, The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu: Function, Form and Surface

AcquisitionsBy Susan CookseyHarn Museum Curator of African Art

The Harn recently purchased a striking headdress made by the Bamana people of Mali, a long-awaited acquisition for the African collection.

Known by the Bamana as “aardvark crest” or n’gonzon koun, and also as chi wara (farming animal), the headdress is a fine example of its type—a horizontally configured composite animal form. Particular attributes can be identified with a workshop that was active as early as the late 19th century in the Djitoumou area of central Mali. Distinctive features include its wonderfully exaggerated horns and curling tail that gracefully balance one another; its delicate, chiseled surface decoration; and the distinctive wide bronze band on its neck. Its basketry cap is remarkably still intact. This male chi wara would always be paired in performances with a female chi wara. The chi wara dancer, cloaked in long black raffia strands, the headdress on his head and walking with two sticks, would mimic the movements of a roan antelope. The masquerade, performed by men accompanied by young women assistants and musicians, is an homage to farmers and the mythical antelope that brought agriculture to humans. In the headdress, the form of the roan antelope is morphed with those of aardvarks and pangolins that dig the earth with the same great skill and force as the champion farmer. The new Harn chi wara made its long journey from Mali to the Harn by way of an early Dutch collector, who then sold it to an American private collector. Although its condition is unusually good, its long trek strained its delicate construction, and it is now undergoing conservation. It is a much-welcomed addition to the African collection, not only because Bamana art has been previously underrepresented in the collection, but also because it was made by a recognized workshop in a specific region—a rare quality of African art in western collections. It will definitely become a star of future exhibitions.

Bamana People, Mali, Djitoumou , Chi Wara (n’gonzon koun), 19th-20th centuryMuseum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Julier and James G. Richardson acquisition endowment

Featured ExhibitionPhotographic Formalities: From Ansel Adams to WeegeeSeptember 28, 2007 – January 6, 2008

Ansel Adams’ finely crafted photographs celebrating the glories of the Western landscape and the magnificence of his precise black and white photographic technique may seem to have little in common with Weegee’s spontaneous, even crude journalistic shots of New York’s street kids, criminals and socialites, caught off guard by his merciless flash exposure. Despite their differences in subject matter and style, Adams and Weegee, like the more than 60 other 20th-century photographers featured in this exhibition, were devoted to discovering and exploiting the unique potential of photography to record and reveal our world in new and exciting ways.

Photographic Formalities features more than 200 photographs on loan from a major private Florida family collection including multiple works by masters such as Edward Weston, Walker Evans and Ruth Bernhard, as well as less familiar innovators Jan Saudek, James Natchwey and Marion Post-Wolcott. These photographers, whether consciously like Adams or intuitively like Weegee, have followed the path of 20th- century Modernism as practiced in other media—that the “form follows function.” Their photographs look like photographs and maximize the unique properties of the camera and print processes, rather than looking like painting, drawing or some other medium.

The exhibition is organized by Curator of Photography Tom Southall in rough thematic groupings of people, places and things. The accompanying exhibition brochure encourages viewers to enjoy these diverse works with special attention to how these photographers explored and exploited four basic formal characteristics of photography: light, frame, focus and time. Support provided by the 150th Anniversary Cultural Plaza Endowment.Jan Saudek, Mask, 2 Face, 1974, loan from a private Florida family collection Jan Saudek, courtesy of SAUDEK.com, spol. s r.o.

Support the Harn MuseumGet a head-start on planning your end-of-year gifts, particularly for gifts of property and gifts of works of art. For calendar year tax deductions, we request that property and artwork gift processing begin in early December.

A work of art may be important, but may not be appropriate for the Harn’s collections. Discussing your ideas regarding gifts of artwork with the appropriate curator as early as possible insures a smooth process. The development office can help facilitate this process.

Don’t forget the IRA rollover option for those 70 ½ years and older, who are able to rollover up to $100,000 tax free to a charity such as the Harn Museum of Art. We can direct such funds to the purpose that most interests you and aligns with the goals of the Harn.

Florida Tomorrow, the Campaign for the University of Florida, will officially kick-off on Sept. 28, 2007, and the Harn will be abuzz with activities that weekend. It’s a good time to consider how you can help the University of Florida’s Harn Museum achieve its fundraising goals.

Finally, we apologize to all those who confused the Annual Fund mailing with membership renewal. Membership is basic to all museums and represents a six percent average of support for museums throughout the country. Annual Fund dollars are the extras that museums rely upon for support of funding exhibitions and programs. It is an essential mix in the fundraising dollars and we appreciate your consideration to support the Harn through both membership and unrestricted donations to the annual fund.

Phyllis DeLaneyDirector of Developmentpdelaney@harn.ufl.edu

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Kazuri Necklaces and EarringsKazuri is the Swahili word for “small and beautiful.” This jewelry comes from a small workshop in Kenya where women make ceramic jewelry and beads. Each bead is carefully shaped, polished, fired, painted and fired again. Browse our unique selection in a variety of styles and colors.

Shop @ the Harn

Momiji DollsMomiji Dolls are the contemporary adaptation of the original Kokeshi folk art dolls made by Japanese farmers and given to family and friends as tokens of love and friendship. Current designs incorporate elements from traditional kimonos and origami, as well as contemporary themes, including manga, anime, fashion and pop stars.

Membership Cards

Membership cards are being mailed to those who joined or renewed since January 2007. Members who renew between September and December will receive their new membership cards upon renewal. If your membership is due to be renewed within the next few months but you would like to receive a membership card now, please contact the membership office at 352.392.9826 x154 or e-mail tpfaff@harn.ufl.edu.

Present your card at the Museum Store to receive your member discount on purchases. When you receive your membership card, you will also receive a coupon for 25 percent off any purchase at the Museum Store through Sept. 30, 2007, our way of saying thanks for your support of the Harn Museum.

Membership cards for those at the Associate ($125) level or above will have a silver sticker indicating membership in the Southeastern Reciprocal Membership Program. Membership grants free admission and discounts at more than 75 museums in the southeast United States. The participating museum list will be mailed with membership cards. Membership at the Fellow ($250) level and above includes free admission and other discounts at an additional 230 museums as part of the North American Reciprocal Membership (NARM) program, a newly added benefit. A list of participating museums will be mailed in early September along with Gold NARM stickers to be placed on membership cards. Present the Harn membership card at participating museums for free admission and discounts on programs and museum shops.

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