LA MOCA Makeover: Parsing the Details of the Rescue Agreement

You could call it, "The Graying of LA MOCA.

I've got nothing against the Fifties and Sixties Generations, who are now (or are fast becoming) the Over-60 Generation. (I'm not so far from that ripe age myself.)

But there's something weirdly disconcerting about restructuring a cutting-edge contemporary art museum by putting it under the supervision of a cadre of codgers (or "graybeards," as the LA Times' Christopher Knight dubs them). Maybe this is one way of signaling a sober sense of responsibility.

First and foremost among MOCA's éminences grises is its chief financial angel, Eli Broad. Although he has no plans to transition from being a "life trustee" to rejoining MOCA's board as an active member, he has clearly gained strong influence over the institution, as witness the fact that his foundation's spokesperson, Karen Denne, has been co-equal with MOCA's spokesperson, Elizabeth Hinckley (an outside publicist for the museum from the Rogers & Cowan media-relations agency) in today's announcement of the museum's administrative and financial changes.

What's more, the "Agreement Summary" included at the end of today's press release clearly bears Broad's imprint: It states that MOCA's board of trustees will be strengthened "to include a substantial number of individuals who share MOCA's vision for art and downtown Los Angeles." MOCA was not previously well known for its "vision for downtown Los Angeles." That's Eli Broad's and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's territory.

The future viability and direction of MOCA will in large measure depend on the as-yet-unnamed additions to its board. Today's announcement mentioned no deletions from the existing list, despite the current board's blatant failure to exercise effective financial oversight. Only director Jeremy Strick was required to fall on his sword.

Knight of the LA Times observed:

Tom Unterman, a venture capitalist who is MOCA co-chairman and longtime chair of the museum's finance committee, where the fiscal mess ought to have been halted years ago, should have bitten the bullet and stepped down too.

The not-so-young Charles Young, one of many new MOCA machers ("big wheels") who sport "emeritus" on the résumé, is the museum's new CEO. In answer to my expressed concern about whether MOCA could attract a distinguished art-oriented director to serve under a chief executive with little or no art-related background, Broad spokesperson Denne told me:

A new director will not report to Chuck Young. He will be CEO for a transition period. He said this morning [at MOCA's press conference] that he does not plan to do this job forever, and once he feels that MOCA is stable and its finances are in order, he will look to hand over leadership of the organization to a world-class director.

To my mind, that's got to be a near-term goal. MOCA can't become stable without distinguished, art-driven leadership. Young thinks otherwise. Edward Wyatt and Jori Finkel of the NY Times quote the new CEO as saying this of the director's search:

My advice will be to postpone it for some time, until things get to a point where you have an attractive opportunity to offer, where you could attract a better candidate than you could now.

Meanwhile, other MOCA-minders during the indefinite period of transition will be the four venerable veterans just named to its newly established advisory committee: Joel Wachs, former Los Angeles City Councilman and now the Andy Warhol Foundation's president; John Walsh, director emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Museum; John Lane, director emeritus of the Dallas Museum of art; and "financial advisor" Gary Cypres, who in the 1980s was an audit manager for Arthur Andersen & Co., subsequently worked in various finance-related capacities (bio here), but is best known for his collection of athletic memorabilia, now housed in his new Sports Museum of Los Angeles.

Wyatt and Finkel of the NY Times report that Cypres "is married to Kathi Cypres, a [MOCA] trustee," and CEO Young "is a longtime colleague of Mr. Broad."

The $75-million MOCA NOW fundraising campaign enjoys a head start: It anticipates some $22.5 million from the museum's board, with $15 million of the board's contribution to be matched by Broad (totaling $37.5 million). Assuming the board makes good on its share, that leaves another $37.5 million to go.

Broad has also pledged to contribute $3 million annually, over a five-year period, for exhibition support.

The eyebrow-raiser in the Agreement Summary is the announced plan to "exhibit MOCA's permanent collection widely, consistent with customary museum practices." Are those "customary practices" high-fee rental shows, designed to raise megabucks from sister institutions? Whatever happened to the idea, dear to Broad's heart, of permanently exhibiting some portion of MOCA's exemplary (but seldom displayed) permanent collection at home, for the benefit of the citizens of LA?

Perhaps spurned suitor Michael Govan can still be persuaded to install some of MOCA's permanent collection in the galleries of his space-rich, contemporary art-needy Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Given the allure of MOCA's undisputed masterpieces, this could be one way for LACMA and MOCA to collaboratively snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.