Regular readers of Real Clear Arts know that I like to shine a light on small museums from time to time. In that vein, today I was struck by an article in the Erie Times-News. Here's how it began: Twenty-ten will certainly be best remembered as the year Erie got the art museum building it deserves [at left]....The Erie Art Museum has been the aesthetic equivalent to a lighthouse on the lake for more than a century, a provider of guidance and illumination for the entire region. But for most of that history the museum made do with facilities … [Read more...]

There is no holding down the foes of moving the Barnes Collection to downtown Philadelphia; they are a persistent bunch. This weekend, they have organized a Barnes Day: on Sunday, the anniversary of Albert C. Barnes's birthday, there will be a rally at 301 North Latches Lane, in Merion, across the street from the collection. It starts at noon.  The Friends of the Barnes Foundation have enlisted two speakers, one from officialdom: Sam Stretton, Esq., a leading authority on Pennsylvania legal ethics, will speak about … [Read more...]

Notwithstanding what Ariana Huffington said here yesterday about museums and technology, I was intrigued when the Whitney Museum recently sent a press release announcing an online game called "Clickistan." It's intended to raise money for the museum. I'm not an electronic game player, but games are everywhere in our society...more people play, statistics show, than some of us would guess...so I was, well, game. Still, early last week, I clicked on "Clickistan" (well, I clicked on the cat, as at left, on the Whitney's home page) and … [Read more...]

Late yesterday, the struggling San Francisco Asian Art Museum got a reprieve -- but it's a brief one, and if it's not enough potential consequences are dire. According to The Bond Buyer, the museum's foundation received "a 30-day extension on some obligations related to the expiration of a letter of credit from JPMorgan Chase & Co. backing $120 million in bonds." That gives the museum foundation until Jan. 21 to restructure its revenue bonds; its credit rating was downgraded by Moody's Investor Services to … [Read more...]