From the Director
Dear Friends,
The transition from summer to fall feels especially poignant this year, as I prepare for my last few months at OJMCHE. My personal emotions may be jumbled, but ultimately I am beaming about our accomplishments this past year.
I moved to Portland from Toronto in 1986, following my spouse, Steve Wasserstrom, who was starting a teaching position. I assumed that we would stay for two years and then return to the east coast. But we fell in love with Portland and as the years went by became more and more entrenched in the life of the city. I worked for a decade at OMSI, the science museum and started at the Oregon Jewish Museum when it was barely a speck — it was, in fact, a museum without walls for a number of years before achieving its first physical space.
I vividly remember my first museum job, a summer position in the decorative arts department at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. I was so nervous for the interview that I stayed up all night reading Janson’s History of Art, sure they would ask me obscure questions about Renaissance artists. In fact the first question I was asked was whether or not I owned steel toed boots! That summer I moved objects from one storage room to another, in preparation for a renovation. It wasn’t especially glamorous but I simply loved every minute of it . . . [continue reading here]
With warm regards,
Judy Margles
Director
