Tomorrow in Jefferson City, MO, our Museum director, Marc Wilson, will receive the 2008 award for Arts Leadership from the Missouri Arts Council.
Wilson has been director of the Nelson-Atkins since 1982 but began his career here in the late 1960s on a fellowship and then as curator of Oriental art. During his tenure, the collection has grown to include the Kansas City Sculpture Park and the Hallmark Photographic Collection. Individual works of art include the commissioning of the Museum's signature Shuttlecocks.
Perhaps Wilson's greatest legacy to the Nelson-Atkins will be the expansion and renovation of the Museum which includes the Bloch Building and a complete reinstallation of nearly every collection.
Personally, I have great respect for Marc Wilson. Highly educated and intellectual, he would appear to some to be unapproachable. Anyone who knows him will tell you that he is quite down to earth. His interests range from translating Chinese poetry to farming. He greets all employees by name and sends out occassional messages to the staff (or the Citizens of the Republic, as he likes to call us).
Only the fourth director in the history of the Museum, he has led the Nelson-Atkins through an incredibly active period. One of these days he will no longer be the director. I can't imagine the Nelson-Atins without him.