82 Hired as an intern in 1976, Linda quickly made her mark as a dedicated and passionate curatorial visionary. Over 40 years, she organized dozens of exhibitions; wrote and edited numerous catalogues and books; facilitated the growth of the museum’s collection; partnered with emerging and established artists; and accumulated many wonderful, unexpected stories. Here are five things about Linda: HAMMER TIME When I first arrived, the small staff operated like a family. It was all hands on deck—everyone helped to install exhibitions, but my lack of skill hanging paintings was legendary. Whenever a member of the installation crew saw me with a hammer in my hand, they’d kindly remove it. And that was a good choice! SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS While the museum was undergoing renovation in the early 2000s, I had many vivid dreams. In one, the ancient gallery turned into a bakery filled with Greek pastries. HER STAR TREK ENTERPRISE Manager of Security Ann Mayo and I discovered we both liked to write song parodies and would challenge each other to come up with clever lyrics. We specialized in Star Trek. This led to hatching a plan to perform a short selection of our parodies flash mob-style at a Star Trek convention. When we stood up from the audience and burst into song, we almost caused a minor riot. ONE OF HER FAVORITE PARTS OF THE JOB I really enjoyed working with living artists and the several dozen site-specific installations and projects they created with the museum. For one, Smith alumna Grace Knowlton ‘54 planned to do a modern take on frescoes, which traditionally call for goat hair as a binding element. Since we didn’t have goats on campus, I went to the Smith stables and asked for horse hair instead. I received a large bag of mane and tail combings that resembled very strange-looking wigs. I’ve learned that when an unusual request is prefaced by “it’s for an art project,” people are almost always willing to help. SOMETHING SHE WILL MISS I always knew that I was a temporary steward of the museum’s collection and that my job was to present, preserve and strengthen it for future generations. Over the years, I developed very personal relationships with the art objects, particularly the French and American paintings. When they were reinstalled after the 2003 renovation, I privately went around the new galleries and welcomed each one back. It was a great privilege, working in an office just steps away from such exceptional art. PARTING WORDS LINDA MUEHLIG, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR CURATORIAL AFFAIRS; SENIOR CURATOR OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE PARTING WORDS