Anne B. Kerr, president emerita of Florida Southern College, first learned Thursday evening that a day had been designated in her honor. And then came a more permanent honor.
Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz, addressing dignitaries at a sneak preview of the newly completed addition to the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, announced that he had proclaimed Thursday as Anne Kerr Day. He was soon upstaged.
Ashley Gibson Barnett, the benefactor for whom the museum was renamed last year, joined Lynda Buck, chair of the museum’s board of trustees, onstage in the facility’s auditorium for a surprise disclosure.
The gleaming, 14,000-square-foot addition will be known as the Dr. Anne B. Kerr Wing. The announcement drew a standing ovation from the capacity audience, which included museum board members, Florida Southern leaders, and elected officials.
H. Alexander Rich, the museum’s executive director, and chief curator, joined Buck and others in declaring that the expansion would not have happened without Kerr’s dedication to raising the necessary funding, as the project cost increased from an original estimate of $4 million to $8 million and rising.
Kerr retired last year after two decades as president of Florida Southern College.
The museum held a ribbon cutting Thursday night for the invited guests and the media. The new wing will open to the public on Jan. 18.