And Kaywin Feldman’s AAMD Exclusive Interview Goes to...

...Judith Dobrzynski in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal---No More "Cathedrals of Culture". It couldn't happen to a better reporter or publication: "Journalist X" (as I had dubbed my then unknown competitor) is my respected colleague at both the WSJ and Arts Journal (with her Real Clear Arts blog). I blame neither Judith nor the WSJ for accepting a first shot at the Association of Art Museum Directors' new president. And Judith, of course, carried if off with her usual aplomb.

But I do blame AAMD for allowing this: keeping other reporters (including me) at bay from the time of the June 9 appointment of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' director, Kaywin Feldman, until the WSJ's Aug. 24 publication of Dobrzynski's take on her.

When I was informed that I'd have to take a number, I chose to get off the line.

I then wrote:

Playing favorites in the first weeks of this new assignment is contrary to the public-spirited nature of her [Feldman's] position as de facto spokesperson for American art museum directors....For what it's worth, I have formally withdrawn my request for an interview.

I do hope that if I place a future call to Kaywin to ask about specific museum-related issues, she'll now feel free to pick up the phone. Still, she's lost her chance at the much coveted CultureGrrl Q&A. (Small price to pay, undoubtedly, for the much larger, more coveted WSJ cynosure.)

Those grapes sure do taste sour.

So to cleanse my palate, I need to thank CultureGrrl Donor 143 from Oak Park, IL, Repeat CultureGrrl Donor 144 from Santa Monica and super-generous Repeat CultureGrrl Donor 145 from Brooklyn. (No, it's NOT two-part Q&A recipient Arnold Lehman, nor anyone else from his Brooklyn Museum!)