As a rule, Jack Kyle never touches a piece of art.
That's pretty hard to do, considering his line of work.
Kyle, a native of Minter City, is executive director for the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange in Jackson. He is responsible for bringing priceless works of art from all over the world to the state for various exhibitions.
This has benefited the state economically, helped fostered relations with foreign diplomats and helped give the state a positive cultural image.
Kyle, 52, is a graduate of Leflore County High School and Delta State University, where he received a degree in vocal music education. He spent four years in the Navy as part of the Navy's Sea Chanters chorus in Washington, D.C.
Following his stint with the Navy, he worked for two years in the congressional offices of former Congressman G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery and another congressman from California.
He came home to Mississippi for a brief period, and while here, he worked at Medart as a governmental affairs officer.
In 1980 he moved to Memphis, where he served as a marketing communication director for the Memphis in May International Festival. He also worked at the advertising firm of Walker and Associates, founded by the late Deloss Walker.
Kyle also worked briefly for the mayor of Memphis, and through these connections he came to help start the "Wonders" art series in Memphis.
The "Wonders" series has featured several famous art exhibitions in Memphis, including "Ramses the Great," "Catherine the Great," "The Splendors of the Ottoman Sultans" and "Napoleon."
Kyle also was founding chairman for the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at the University of Memphis.
His rule of never touching art objects comes from his philosophy that "only the experts and scholars" should handle that work, he said.
"You don't want to damage anything, and you certainly want to do everything to care for and preserve it for all mankind to come," Kyle said.
His love for art has led him to many foreign countries, and he has established for Mississippi a rapport that is crucial to the culture of the state.
Following the "Napoleon" exhibit in 1993, Kyle received a call from friend and attorney Beverly Bolton and her husband, William Buck Stevens, formerly of Carrollton. They asked Kyle whether he would be interested in coming to Jackson to help organize an international exhibition from St. Petersburg, Russia.
"Buck was heading a humanitarian project called 'Mississippians Reaching Out,' which would send medical supplies to St. Petersburg," Kyle said. "Out of that effort came the idea to have a cultural exchange."
On May 28, 1994, a group of civic, community, corporate and educational leaders met in Jackson and established the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange.
Kyle was hired as the first executive director in June 1994, and he remains in that post today.
Kyle's task was simple but daunting: Organize the international exhibit projects.
With an educational background as well as a tremendous interest in the arts, Kyle admits he did a lot of self-education to read and research the great art collections of the world.
"Through this, I travel and do my own surveys of museums with the thought in mind of 'Can an exhibition that is scholarly in content have broad appeal and be developed?'," Kyle said.
The first exhibit - "The Palaces of St. Petersburg: Russian Imperial Style Exhibition" - was held in 1996 at the Mississippi Arts Pavilion. Thanks to Kyle's team and his negotiating skills, that exhibit drew more than 550,000 visitors, and it had the highest attendance of any art exhibit in the nation that year. It also generated a $61 million impact on the state.
Kyle followed up with the "Splendors of Versailles" exhibit in 1998. He then landed a major coup for Mississippi when he drew a visit from the King and Queen of Spain - Juan Carlos I and Sofia - to Jackson during the next exhibit in 2001: "The Majesty of Spain; Royal Collections from the Museo del Prado and Patrimonio Nacional."
As a result of two of these exhibitions, the French Minister of Culture knighted Kyle as a "Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres," which is a special recognition given to people who have done something outstanding in contribution to the arts. Besides Kyle, only three other Mississippians who have received this honor - Eudora Welty, Leontyne Price and William Farris.
King Juan Carlos also decorated Kyle with an award called "Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica." He has also received an "Arts Ambassador" award in the Giants of Design Awards for "House Beautiful" magazine. He was presented this award in May 2002 in New York.
Kyle is now abroad again developing the next art exhibition, which comes to Jackson in March 2004.
This exhibit - "The Glory of Baroque Dresden" - is the first exhibition from Dresden, Germany, in the United States in 25 years.
In February, Kyle traveled to various parts of Europe, not only working on the next exhibit, but visiting old friends as well.
"I will be in Madrid having dinner with the Duke of San Carlos, who I brought to the Delta several years ago," Kyle said just days prior to his departure for Europe in mid-February. "I also will be meeting with friends in France and Russia."
Kyle also visited Vienna and Prague in preparation for the upcoming exhibition.
"The Glory of Baroque Dresden" will offer visitors what Kyle believes is one of the highest-quality art exhibitions. The show will feature old master paintings by Rembrandt, Titian and Rubens and one of only 35 known paintings by Jan Vermeer, the famous Dutch painter from Delft.
It will feature a spectacular collection of jewels, including a 41-carat diamond known as the Dresden Green Diamond - the largest ever discovered.
"This diamond comes from the treasury of August the Strong, who was elector of Saxony and king of Poland," Kyle said. "This is only the second time the Dresden has appeared in the U.S., the other time being in the Smithsonian."
The exhibit will also feature a special collection of Chinese, Japanese and Meissen porcelain.
"Of course, Dresden is renowned for the location where the formula for making fine porcelain was rediscovered," Kyle said. "Other highlights include arms and armor, hunting guns, sculpture and prints and drawings, including an architectural drawing by Michelangelo."
Kyle admits that relationship building is the key to the success of these exhibits.
"They are certainly reluctant to relinquish their most prized artwork, like the Dresden and the Vermeer painting," Kyle said. "And insurance is a major expenditure for us."
When planning an exhibit, Kyle selects the theme of exhibition after much study and consultation with officials. Then, a mutual decision is made of what they think the show should include.
"Once we develop the theme, then I rely wholeheartedly on the scholars in those areas and seek the advice, guidance and recommendations of art historical experts and specialists of certain artworks," Kyle said. "In the Dresden exhibit, I am dealing with eight different museum directors and their curatorial staff."
The artwork is then prepared for shipping, and each piece is accompanied by a curator on its transport to the United States.
"Security is very stringent, and packaging and shipping is very specific," Kyle said. "The curators are here from the arrival of the artwork at the Arts Pavilion until they are installed. They are here supervising every step of the way."
"One of the unique features of what we do is that we pride ourselves in the dynamic and beautiful installations of the artwork," Kyle said. "This ranges from putting scalamandre fabrics on the walls to installing parquet floors, to painting other floors to look like stone and marble."
With the Dresden exhibition, Kyle said his team of designers will recreate the throne room from the Dresden Castle.
"I have architectural exhibition design team from Boulder, Colorado, and Baltimore, Maryland, who come and work with me," Kyle said. "They are a very talented team. The curators, however, determine the grouping of the objects in the exhibition."
For this exhibition, Kyle has procured a painter/artist from Madrid, Spain, to paint a 45-foot-by-15-foot ceiling painting replica of the original ceiling painting from the throne room in Dresden castle. The original was destroyed in a fire bomb during World War II in 1945.
"I am the luckiest person in the world," Kyle said. "First, to be working with so many outstanding Mississippians, like my board of directors.
"And, all of the wonderful people I have met along the way in Russia, France, Spain and now in Germany," Kyle said. "I also enjoy working with the governmental officials and various government offices in our state because of the benefits of these exhibitions to Mississippi.
"What an enriching experience to meet with all of these scholars from all over the world," Kyle said. He even admitted that he is intimidated from time to time by working with these noted experts.
"It is really so humbling to see all of this beauty out there created by the hands of man and to meet people who are such experts in the history and understanding of this art," Kyle said.
