Staying true to yourself and doing what you believe is right is known by the wise as a good recipe for living. With strong majority support from the community and City of Huntsville, the Huntsville Museum of Art’s dedicated volunteers and staff have listened to public input and dared to imagine what the Museum must become to keep pace with the needs of our growing city. After four years of planning, dreaming and dialogue, the Museum has broken ground on its 21,000 square foot expansion. It’s a bold step and affirmation of our belief in the Museum’s future, and its essential role as an educational and cultural resource for our community.

Thanks to so many that contributed their support, ideas and resources. Such an endeavor takes many dedicated hands, and the Museum is fortunate to have robust and varied support. Special thanks go out to our Masterpiece In the Making Campaign Co-Chairs Betsy and Peter Lowe, and to the entire Campaign Cabinet for their efforts. Heartfelt thanks go to Dorothy and Julian Davidson for setting a new standard of philanthropy for the arts in our City by providing our largest individual Campaign gift. For their unwavering commitment, my deepest thanks go to our former Mayor Loretta Spencer, and to the entire City Council as well. Also, thanks to Mayor Tommy Battle for his strong support and for becoming an ambassador for the Museum’s role as an enhancement to Big Spring Park. To all of our donors to the Campaign, from the smallest to the largest gift, thank you for helping to make this dream come to life. I look forward to updating you in months to come as the building progresses.

But wait, there’s more good news! The upcoming holiday season will be unforgettable with the opening of the blockbuster exhibition, Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: the Royal Holloway Collection. The Museum is delighted to present this group of splendid, large-scale paintings from London on its first tour of North America. Due to the great popularity of Art By American Women: The Sellars Collection, the Museum has rearranged its calendar to include an ongoing exhibition showing selections from the current exhibition, plus new works. From this point forward, the Museum will always have examples from the Collection on display.

I leave you with one teaser. The Museum will soon announce an exciting new partnership with other attractions in the City. More information will be released soon about this fun, holiday opportunity. I hope to see you in the galleries soon!

Clayton Bass
President and CEO