Jay H. Baker: The Story Behind the Collection

Lecture

The Baker Museum Lecture Series
Jay H. Baker:
The Story Behind the Collection

Jay H. Baker, collector
H. Nichols Clark, Ph.D., curator

Have you ever wondered about the real story behind one of the most significant collections of baseball memorabilia outside of the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Join preeminent collector Jay H. Baker to learn more about how he started collecting (hint: comic books!), what baseball means to him and what he hopes visitors to The Baker Museum will take away from the exhibition Baseball Heroes: Works from the Jay H. Baker Collection. Jay will be joined by H. Nichols Clark, the guest curator who helped devise the strategy for displaying and interpreting the collection for this interactive multimedia exhibition.

This presentation is part of the exhibition Baseball Heroes: Works from the Jay H. Baker Collection.

A professionally administered negative COVID-19 rapid antigen or PCR test, along with a valid matching photo ID, is required for all visitors 12 and older. In lieu of a negative COVID-19 test, voluntary proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, along with a valid matching photo ID, may be presented. Masks are encouraged, and they are required for children between the ages of 2 and 11 unless a negative COVID-19 test or voluntary proof of being fully vaccinated (for children ages 5-11 eligible for vaccination) is presented on their behalf. Certain artists and ensembles may require masks. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 Protocols.

Jay H. Baker

Jay H. Baker

Jay H. Baker is a native of Queens, New York, and a lifelong New York Yankees fan. Jay received his Bachelor of Science in economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and he is the former president of Kohl’s department stores. He held many management positions during his career, including with Macy’s, Ohrbach’s, Famous-Barr and Saks Fifth Avenue. Jay currently serves on the boards of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, Artis—Naples, the Naples Senior Center and Naples Community Hospital. He also chairs the advisory board of the Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

H. Nichols Clark

H. Nichols Clark

H. Nichols Clark, Ph.D. is guest curator of Baseball Heroes: Works from the Jay H. Baker Collection. Clark is the founding director of The Ashley Bryan Center and was the founding director and chief curator emeritus of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. He previously served as the Eleanor McDonald Storza chair of education at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and held posts at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He co-authored Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children’s Book Illustration, and his other publications include numerous articles and essays as well as Francis W. Edmonds: American Master in the Dutch Tradition (1988) and A Marble Quarry: The James H. Ricau Collection of Sculpture at the Chrysler Museum of Art (1997). He holds a B.A. cum laude from Harvard University and M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Delaware.

Program Information

Program Information

View this month's program book to get general information about Artis—Naples and to read articles about this month’s activities. View the program insert* for specific information about this event.

  Program Book
  Program Insert

* Program inserts will be available online approximately ten days prior to the event.