More turnover at the top of a yet another Texas museum: Earlier this week, Ned Rifkin resigned as director of the Blanton Museum at the University of Texas at Austin, less than two years after he arrived. The university's provost, Steven W. Leslie, immediately promoted the deputy director for external affairs and operations, Simone Wicha, to the top slot. Rifkin stays on at the university to do research and teach, but his quick replacement probably reflects unhappiness with within the Blanton/university. The exact nature of … [Read more...]

The National Endowment for the Arts is out with another statistical study, an attempt to state the value Americans place on the arts by looking at the time and money they spend consuming the arts and based on numerous federal studies by the U.S. Economic Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While the information about the perforrming arts is more plentiful, there is some data about "museums" -- though since there is no definition for "museums," we have to assume that all museums, not just art … [Read more...]

Is the fact that nearly 1,000 visual artists applied for a program that will select 15 of them a positive or a negative? Let's take it as a positive (and not a sign that they can not survive in this economy), because the program is called the smARTpower initiative, and it was developed by the U.S. State Deparment with the Bronx Museum of the Arts -- a new effort in cultural diplomacy. In late January, the BMA put out an open call for applications from artists who would agree to travel to 15 countries, including … [Read more...]

If polling the public is one way museums are trying to engage people, can another trendy method be far behind? I'm speaking of gamification, also known by techies as "funware." The practice, which turns non-game activities into games, is rampant on sites like Facebook and in the commercial world. In these games, participant rack up points, or achieve levels, or earn fake money, or compete against themselves or others, and so on. (Think "Farmville.") I am not much of a game-player (and never online), but I confess that a … [Read more...]

In a country whose populace has a reputation for not voting as diligently as it can -- and should -- it strikes me as a little odd that so many institutions are using voting contests to attract interest and involvement. But here's another one,  a new experiment in "visitor engagement" at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and it raises an issue: Since Mar. 31, the MIA has been asking people to vote on the conservation destiny of a painting in its collection. I wonder … [Read more...]

Max Gordon: does the name ring a bell? How about David Gordon? A new book called Architect for Art: Max Gordon is one link between the two, but by no means the strongest: David Gordon, former director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, among other things, has written the Preface and an essay for the book about his brother Max, who died in 1990 of AIDs-related illness. I'm happy to highlight it not least because Max's philosophy about architecture for contemporary art matches mine -- or, I should say, mine parrots his: highlight the … [Read more...]

At a time when students in art history are said by many to be choosing overwhelmingly to study contemporary art (a point made here by Maxwell Hearn of the Met), the University of Pennsylvania is adding to its medieval studies department. What gives? A gift to the Penn Libraries, that's what, and a very nice one at that. Penn recently announced that it has received a major collection of 280 Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, valued at over $20 million, from a Penn alum, and long-time benefactor and Library Board member … [Read more...]

The movies have come to the art exhibit, and in what (I think) is a very unusual way: An exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence called Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Angry Young Men: the Birth of Modernity is structured like a film, in a series of flashbacks. It's a little hard to explain, so I shall stick closely to the press release, aided by my perusal of the catalogue and a look at what has been posted online about the exhibition.   For the show, co-curators Christof Vitali, former director of the … [Read more...]

Speaking of participation -- and this being Holy (or Passion) Week -- it's a good time to highlight the 400th anniversary of the completion of the King James Bible, which -- no matter your religious bent -- can be appreciated for its felicitous use of language. For months, the King James Bible Trust, which was established to celebrate the anniversary, has been commissioning music and literary compositions (composers who were short-listed are here), sponsoring lectures and debates, holding study days in … [Read more...]

The Hirshhorn Museum sent me an email a while back that boggles the mind. It was an invitation to buy tickets to the Apr. 29 "After Hours" event, running from 8 p.m. to midnight. The picture looks, to me, more like a rave than anything to do with art, but that's not the topic I'm taking up here. It's not even the high ticket price of $18. What's most bothersome about this invitation is the statement about members: "Members get in free and have access to VIP area." You can see that line for yourself in the picture at left. "A … [Read more...]