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Thursday Is The Day: Annual NYT Museum Section

March 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
Sargent watercolor

In my opinion, museums do not get enough coverage in newspapers and magazines, so if a lot of it comes at once, in the annual New York Times section on museums, well, fine by me. That section should arrive in your paper tomorrow. I have three stories in it this year, and I will have more to say about each of the subjects in the coming days. Meantime, though, I will simply list them here: 1) In Denver, Exhibits Interweave Genres -- that's the headline, but it doesn't really say what the story is about. As you may know, the Denver Art Museum … [Read more...]

03/20/13 9:22 PM | filed under: Exhibitions, Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |

Membership Does Have Its Privileges — Here’s A New One At The Met

March 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
MetBalc2

Several days ago, I met a curator of the Metropolitan Museum* for lunch, and she suggested that we meet in the new balcony lounge. I'd never heard of the new balcony lounge, but I eagerly said yes. While the Met has several places to eat, the two most convenient ones -- in the Petrie Court and in the American wing -- are often crowded, and the noisy ambiance of the basement cafeteria doesn't usually appeal to me. The Members dining room is very nice, but formal and besides you have to take an elevator to get to it (I am impatient). The new … [Read more...]

03/17/13 9:10 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |

“Save The Corcoran” Itself Needs Saving

March 14, 2013 by 4 Comments

Since I wrote here two days ago about the strange, even silly goings-on at Save the Corcoran, I've learned a thing or two that only makes the group's stance worse. A brief recap: Save the Corcoran endorsed Wayne Reynolds for chairman of the board of the Corcoran, even though he plans to sell off the collection to pay the bills for a plan to expand the Corcoran College of Art and Design, boost the focus on technology and new media, as well as "traditional arts disciplines." Aand even though he wants to "de-emphasize the gallery" because … [Read more...]

03/14/13 6:58 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, Museums, Uncategorized |

Corcoran Catch-Up: Lesser Of Two Evils Or A Third Choice?

March 12, 2013 by 3 Comments
The Reynolds

Last week, the group called Save the Corcoran (a museum which as you'll all remember is suffering from poor leadership, lack of ideas and perhaps lack of convictions) emailed me their endorsement of a man named Wayne Reynolds to become the Corcoran's new board chair. Now that I've had time to see what this would mean, I wonder if they have read the fine print. Reynolds, the husband of Catherine Reynolds (both are shown at right), who some years back got rich on student lending and attempted to give millions of dollars to … [Read more...]

03/12/13 5:38 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, People, Uncategorized |

Indianapolis Retrenches — Deep Cuts

March 4, 2013 by 5 Comments

As predicted here last week, mostly by my commenters, the Indianapolis Museum of Art announced deep personnel cuts today. According to the press release, this "strategic restructuring" involved "an 11% reduction in personnel" at the museum: ...Eight open positions will not be filled, while 19 full-time positions and two part-time positions were eliminated across all departments of the Museum. Among those losing their jobs, I understand, are a registrar, an art handler with a 30-year tenure, the chief photographer who's been there 20 … [Read more...]

03/4/13 12:24 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |

Tacoma Goofed. What’s The Deaccessioning Lesson?

March 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
121RMZ.St.5

We all make mistakes. The Tacoma Art Museum, I believe, just made a big one -- and since it's about deaccessioning, it's worth some examination. As chronicled in the Tacoma News-Tribune, the art sales in question began because a few years back the Tacoma museum decided to refocus on Northwest art. In its collection was a cache of Qing dynasty robes, scroll paintings and silk purses, and 41 pieces of jade jewelry.  The collection, described as "richly embroidered...silk jackets, robes and skirts" and "jade items varied from shades of green … [Read more...]

03/3/13 5:42 PM | filed under: Curatorial Matters, Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |

The Tate’s Tanks: Three Steps Forward, Two Back

February 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
joan_jonas_mirror_performance

I was all set to compliment the Tate for creating a new space on YouTube called The Performance Room. It is meant to show performances designed specifically for online viewing, all commissioned, and "the first artistic programme created purely for live web broadcast." (I'm not sure about that, but that is what the Tate claims.) Joan Joanas (below) will be starting things off on Feb. 28: Referencing previous works such as Vertical Roll 1972, in which she performed directly to the camera in her studio, and drawing on mythology, Jonas … [Read more...]

02/18/13 7:50 PM | filed under: Exhibitions, Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |

The Hirshhorn’s Bloomberg Bubble: Updated And Deflated

February 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
HirshhornBubble

When I last wrote about Richard Koshalek's plans to build a seasonal blue bubble atop the Hirshhorn Museum -- in fall, 2010 -- he had disclosed to me a $1 million-plus naming gift from the Bloomberg Foundation as well as his goal of creating a "cultural think tank" that would combine elements of the World Economic Forum at Davos and TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conferences, and thereby insert art into to the national and international dialogue. I laid out those plans and more in a Cultural Conversation with him in the Wall Street … [Read more...]

02/10/13 6:04 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, Museums, Uncategorized |

A New Model Of Museum Financing

January 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Monroe

I will have more to say on the subject in a subsequent post, but for now I would just like to link to an article I have written that will be published in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal. It's a Cultural Conversation with Dan L. Monroe, the executive director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. In it, Monroe outlines his thinking behind the museum's current $650 million fundraising campaign, the bulk of which will go to PEM's endowment. He has challenged the conventional wisdom that it's too hard to raise big money for … [Read more...]

01/28/13 5:42 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, People |

Will There Be Another Round of Admission Hikes?

January 17, 2013 by 8 Comments
Druick

The Art Institute of Chicago is digging deeper into our pockets: yesterday the Chicago Park District board of commissioners approved a hike in admissions and a bigger jump for non-Illinois residents. As of Feb. 1, general adult admission for instaters will rise from $16 to $18, and out-of-staters like me will pay $23, up from $18. The Chicago Tribune quotes AIC director Douglas Druick saying: If we didn't have to do it, we wouldn't do it. It was felt that this was reasonable, not too onerous and signaled our commitment to the city and to … [Read more...]

01/17/13 5:52 PM | filed under: Museum Funding-Fundraising, Uncategorized |
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