“I think I have something you may be interested in,” said the man calling the University of Arizona Museum of Art.
He did have something. A something that had experienced a renewed level of interest after a writer on the University of Arizona internal communications team wrote a story about the 30th anniversary of a painting stolen (cut right out of its frame) at the UofA museum in 1985.
Woman-Ochre by Willem de Kooning disappeared in plain day and remained an unsolved mystery for 30 years until the owners of a Silver City, NM, antique store realized the painting they picked up at an estate sale was more than they thought.
In this installment of Tell Me a Story, Doug shares the story behind the story. He was the director of Media Relations and Communications when his team published the anniversary story that sparked (if in a small way) the recovery of the painting.
It’s a story of mystery and intrigue any mild-mannered internal communications writer would love to discover.
The Woman-Ochre mystery remains in the news until recently, including a documentary. More details can be read at the University of Arizona Museum of Art.
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