Museum curator retires with Japanese honors

Donald Wood retired in December after working as a curator at The Birmingham Museum of Art for 30 years and spending the last 17 years in charge of the facility’s large Asian art collection.

Wood can be proud of his accomplishments, according to museum director Graham C. Boettcher.

He built an “exquisite collection” of Asian art, perhaps “the finest in the Southeast,” Boettcher said in a news release.

And Wood has now received the crowning honor of his 40-year career in the field.

On Dec. 15 at the BMA, Japanese Consul General Takashi Shinozuka presented Wood with The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, Japan’s highest cultural honor, to recognize his efforts to increase the appreciation of Japanese art in America.

Wood said he was surprised but very pleased to receive the award. “It’s the highest honor in my field,” he said.

An Ohio native, Wood earned his bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University and graduate degrees from The University of Kansas. Wood’s passions include Buddhist art, Asian ceramics, Japanese prints, Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture and Korean art.

He curated such acclaimed BMA shows as “The First Emperor: Treasures from Ancient China” and the recent exhibition, “Afterlife: Asian Art from the Weldon Collection.” 

Wood has also traveled in Asia and worked with the BMA’s Asian Art Society and the Indian Cultural Society to promote Asian art.

Wood agrees with Boettcher’s glowing appraisal of the BMA’s Asian collection, including its regional preeminence.

While there are other fine Asian collections in the South, the holdings at the BMA “are really the only comprehensive collection,” Wood said.

“That is part of the original concept for the Asian collection, to show all of Asia,” he said. “It has been a challenge but a lot of fun, too.”

Wood, who plans to remain in Birmingham in retirement, also offers some advice to anyone viewing the BMA’s Asian collection for the first time.

“Just come with an open mind,” he said. “Don’t have any preconceived notions, and let your imagination run wild.”