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For more information about the Kennedy Museum and its exhibitions, visit the museum Web site.
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By Susan Green
James Wyman likes to build things: exhibitions, collections, audiences, educational programs, capital campaigns -- and bridges. And a critical role for the arts and humanities in society, he believes, is to build bridges among diverse communities.
He'll use that commitment to multicultural and multidisciplinary studies as the John B. and Dareth A. Gerlach Director of the University's Kennedy Museum of Art, a position he assumed April 1. The named directorship is made possible by an endowment created by Dareth Gerlach of Columbus and her late husband, John, an Ohio University student in the late 1940s.
"To work across disciplines and programs in the effort to bring the arts to the widest possible audience -- local, national and international -- is an exciting opportunity," says Wyman, an arts administrator for 18 years.
Located on The Ridges overlooking the Athens campus, the museum opened in 1996. It occupies the first floor and basement of an immense four-story, High Victorian Italianate structure that served, beginning in 1874, as the central administration building of southeastern Ohio's former mental health hospital.
The Kennedy Museum and the building in which it is housed, Lin Hall, are named for individuals who were pivotal in establishing the facility's permanent collections. Edwin and Ruth Kennedy, who graduated from the University in 1926 and 1930, respectively, donated an extensive collection of Southwest Native American art to Ohio University in 1990. The late Henry Lin, dean of the College of Fine Arts from 1972 to 1984, helped build the University's contemporary American print collection.
The museum hosts an average of eight major exhibitions a year, including some that are part of national tours, in addition to several educational exhibits. The staff includes five full-time employees, 15 students and some 80 volunteers.
"The arts are synonymous with the city of Athens, and I have watched with interest and excitement the founding and development of the Kennedy Museum of Art," says Wyman, who grew up in Columbus. His wife, Karen, a former Ohio University student, is a Cleveland native.
Wyman says he hopes to develop a greater regional, national and international profile for the museum. He knows that's a tall order, but he says he's "on fire" with enthusiasm about making the Kennedy a model for what museums can be in a university setting.
"I love higher education," Wyman says. "Where else can you find such a culture of difference and knowledge all in one place?" He believes university art museums can be a catalyst for collaborations involving the arts, science, theater, technology and medical fields.
Raymond Tymas-Jones, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Wyman's new boss, is of a similar mind.
"I want to see an environment that weaves together the College of Fine Arts, the Kennedy Museum of Art and the University's Performing Arts Series," says Tymas-Jones. "James Wyman's experience as a presenter and work at the University of Florida are stellar. His enthusiasm about the museum community is energizing."
Wyman has curated and organized hundreds of exhibitions. He most recently was director of galleries at the University of Florida for nearly five years. His accomplishments included securing major donations for permanent collections, expanding educational programs and facilities, and initiating a $3.4 million renovation and expansion of the main gallery. He also served for 10 years as exhibitions coordinator at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, N.Y.
Music also is important to Wyman, and he takes it pretty seriously. He's a contemporary blues guitarist, but he's quick to point out that his talents in the genre are limited: "I can vocalize or growl when I have to, but I'm definitely not a singer." He writes music, does a bit of recording and jams with friends and colleagues.
The endowment for Wyman's position will free up operating funds for exhibitions and educational programming.
"John and Dareth Gerlach's magnanimity to the Kennedy Museum of Art is a tribute to their appreciation for the enormous service the museum provides to the campus and its surrounding communities as well as their love for Ohio University," says Tymas-Jones.
Wyman is enthused about taking on his new duties at a time when museums are becoming emblems of community identity and incubators for change. The Kennedy, he says, is poised to take off in exciting new directions, and he's pleased to be leading the way.
Susan Green is a media specialist with University Communications and Marketing.
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