MeMbership - Oriental Institute - University of Chicago
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175 MEMBERSHIP Maria Krasinski Statistics At the close of the fiscal year, the Oriental Institute had 2,306 members. Between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006, 191 new members joined the Institute and we had a nearly 35% increase in total membership revenue. Publications The Membership Office — with the assistance and expertise of the Publications Office — contin- ued publishing News & Notes on a quarterly basis. The fall 2005 issue featured a lead article by Research Associate Abbas Alizadeh, “New Challenges and Perspectives in Iran.” The winter 2006 issue highlighted the opening of the Robert F. Picken Family Nubia Gallery and the Doris and Marshall Holleb Family Gallery for Special Exhibits, with articles by Geoff Emberling, Museum Director and John A. Larson, Museum Archivist. The spring issue focused on the Institute’s re- cent excavation season at Hamoukar, Syria, directed by Research Associate Clemens D. Reichel. Tutankhamun dominated the summer 2006 issue, with articles by Emily Teeter and Geoff Ember- ling (“Tutankhamun in Chicago,” about the Institute’s own special exhibits related to Tut) and longtime volunteer and Breasted Medallion recipient Peggy Grant (“James Henry Breasted and the Tomb of Tutankhamun,” detailing Breasted’s involvement with the discovery of Tut’s tomb). This issue also saw a complete redesign of the News & Notes format, moving to a glossier, maga- zine-style layout with a bolder cover. Events Gallery Openings The Membership Office was involved with several of the opening events for the Picken Family Nubia Gallery and the Holleb Family Special Exhibits Gallery. The Director’s Dinner honored donors to the galleries and the museum staff who created the exhibits (from conception to conservation to installation). Held at the Institute on February 20, the event offered guests the first look at the Picken Nubia Gallery and Lost Nubia, the first ex- hibit in the Holleb Special Exhibits Gallery featuring photographs from James Henry Breasted’s expeditions to Sudan in 1905–1907. David O’Connor of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University delivered the keynote address on “Egypt, Nubia, and the Nile in Antiquity.” Dinner followed in the Edgar and Deborah Jannotta Mesopotamian Gallery. On February 23, nearly 200 guests attended the Members’ Preview of the two galleries before they opened to the public the following weekend. For the first time, we almost ran out of food! Keeping to a vigorous special exhibits schedule, the museum followed up Lost Nubia with an- other photography exhibit, Wonderful Things! Photographs of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, which opened on May 26 to coincide with the opening of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pha- raohs at The Field Museum. The Members’ Preview was held on May 24, featuring remarks by Geoff Emberling and Emily Teeter. MEMBERSHIP THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE 2005–2006 ANNUAL REPORT oi.uchicago.edu
