Patrons Sponsor Vatican Exhibition At The Bowers

The California Patrons have made a grant to sponsor the exhibition Gods and Gifts: the Vatican Ethnological Collection at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. In response to the outstanding reviews received by an exhibition of some 35 pieces from the Vatican collection at the de Young Museum in San Francisco earlier this year (see the article on page 2 describing the Patrons visit to the exhibition), the director of the Vatican Ethnological Museum, Fr. Nicola Mapelli and the Director of Collections at the Bowers Museum, Julie Lee have collaborated to create an augmented exhibition of over 70 objects, many of which have never left the Vatican before. The California Patrons are delighted to provide additional funding necessary to make it possible. The much larger Orange County exhibition will open to the public on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Current California Patrons will be invited to a VIP reception and tour prior to the opening.