Director's Message

Spring 2004

The Age of Armor started its 16-stop national tour with a spectacular opening reception at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida. Eury Cantillo from the Education and Programs Department presented a number of special programs during its opening week. Christina McGovern, Director of Development, and I attended the exhibition's "Medieval" opening dinner that attracted close to 100 costumed guests including Angela Stern, a new Higgins Incorporator and collector of arms and armor from New York.

The next stop for The Age of Armor is Little Rock, Arkansas. A series of programs and special events are scheduled for that location as well. Press coverage of the tour has been very keen, and the Museum is greatly benefiting from the visibility.

Jeffrey Forgeng, the Paul S. Morgan Curator, and Heather Feland, Director of Education and Programs, are combining their talents to publish the book Daily Life in 17th Century England, due out this spring. The Museum will host a launch party for the book in New York City to coincide with an upcoming Armor and Arms Club of New York meeting.

Between the national tour of The Age of Armor, continuing press coverage of Museum activities (including a feature for the recent Founder's Day in the calendar of the Boston Globe) and numerous other highlights, the reputation and national visibility of the Museum has been dramatically increasing. This is a central goal of the Museum's strategic plan, now in it's second year of implementation. The Museum is on target with most of the initiatives of the strategic plan, and it is proving to be an excellent road map to guide the Museum's future.

Kent dur Russell
Executive Director