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It's official: CultureGrrl is NOT the future of arts journalism. But the National Summit on Arts Journalism, for which five winners have been selected from those of us who entered the competition, has postponed publicly identifying the projects "that might give us a peek into the future." Can we stand the suspense, art-lings?Now that time and the judges have passed me by, I'm … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl Is Not “The Future of Arts Journalism” (Who is?)

NY City Planning Commissioner Nathan LeventhalYou go, Nat! It was NY City Planning Commissioner Nathan Leventhal who publicly raised the question about the elephant-in-the-skyline during last month's hearing on the planned MoMA/Hines tower, designed by architect Jean Nouvel. It was the simplest of queries from a sophisticated interlocutor---the former president of Lincoln … [Read more...] about News Flash: City Planning Report Decapitates Nouvel’s MoMA Monster

An early model of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu DhabiI couldn't leave to see Vermeer's "Milkmaid" without spilling this tidbit from Page A16 of today's NY Times---an ad with an image of a Frank Gehry model at the bottom, enigmatically titled, "Request for Interested Contractors to Submit Pre-qualification.""Pre-qualification for what?" you ask.For the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, of … [Read more...] about $750-Million Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s “Request for Interested Contractors”

Inadequately adorned wall, facing the High Line. Calling Knox Martin!Those of you who read my Twitter tweets know that one of the places I visited during my Labor Day Weekend Staycation was the High Line, Diller Scofidio+ Renfro's brilliant transformation (with a major assist from James Corner Field Operations, the landscape architects) of New York's derelict elevated train … [Read more...] about A View from the High Line: Perfect Spot for Knox’s Nixed Mural?

New Abrams catalogue for the Rose Art Museum's collection, due Oct. 1The irony of the imminent arrival of a 288-page catalogue (above), presenting what its publisher, Abrams, calls "one of the most extraordinary collections of any academic institution," is that the fate of the collection and the future of the museum itself are still greatly in doubt. Will this 204-illustration … [Read more...] about Rose Blows: New Collection Catalogue by Brandeis Museum’s Ex-Director

Glenn Beck seems to be careening wildly around the artworld lately. But the clip that actually has significance (and some validity) is not his wacky rant about Communist iconography lurking in the adornments of Rockefeller Center. The Beck clip that deserves notice (below, via) addresses the Obama administration's attempt to rally the art brigades around its social-service … [Read more...] about Glenn Beck’s Culture War: Left or Right, He’s Right about Government Meddling in the Arts

Send a micro-donation of either $1.50 (for the day) or $15 (through September) via my "Buy Now" button, below, and I'll shoot you these links: Christie's charges French buyers for resale royalties; New French Culture Minister; Poussin's Priapus revealed; live nude on London's Fourth Plinth; live nude in Metropolitan Museum's gallery. Are we seeing a warm-weather trend … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today (adults only)

It's only in the glorious twilight(?) of my career that I've been experiencing journalism as a subject (because of my blogging prominence), as well as a practitioner. I now know firsthand the frustration of talking to an interviewer who seems to have difficulty taking notes, let alone understanding what I'm saying.Then there's the smart and empathetic Deanna Isaacs, who … [Read more...] about “Chicago Reader” on Future of Arts Journalism: CultureGrrl Gets First and Last Words

Michael Botwinick, director of the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, and former director of the Brooklyn Museum, responds to Bricks-and-Mortar Morass: Cleveland Desecrates Donor Intent:As someone who has been around the professional art world for 40 years (beginning as an assistant curator of medieval art and the Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum), I think Cleveland's action … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Michael Botwinick on Cleveland’s Donor Boner

Ted Gallagher, a self-described attorney "with a strong amateur art historic streak," responds to Michael Thomas's BlogBack that took issue with my post on the Cleveland Museum's proposed diversion of acquisitions funds to its capital campaign:Michael Thomas bends logic beyond all reckoning. He grants the Cleveland Museum leave to invade dedicated acquisition funds for … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Reader Defends My Take on Cleveland’s “Bricks-and-Mortar Morass”

Kalpen Modi, Associate Director, White House Office of Public EngagementI fear that my fears about a culture czar are being realized.Thankfully, we still don't have a cabinet-level Secretary of Culture, but we do have Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, who, in a conference call last week, sought to rally the artworld troops behind … [Read more...] about “United We Serve”: Should the Arts be Politically Exploited?

Michael M. Thomas, author, journalist and verteran artworld commentator, responds to Bricks-and-Mortar Morass: Cleveland Desecrates Donor Intent: As someone who has been around the professional art world for 50 years (beginning, way back when, as a curatorial assistant in European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum), I must say I don't think Cleveland's action is cause for … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Author/Journalist Michael Thomas on Cleveland’s Repurposing of Acquisition Funds

Cleveland Museum of Art's new Viñoly-designed East WingThe Cleveland Museum last week filed for court permission (as first reported here by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Steve Litt) to deviate from the terms of charitable funds established by four major supporters. The benefactors had stipulated that their gifts be applied to the acquisition of art, not bricks and mortar. … [Read more...] about Bricks-and-Mortar Morass: Cleveland Desecrates Donor Intent

The Getaway CarToday I'm nursing sore feet and basking in the afterglow of my son's and daughter-in-law's(!) wonderful wedding, for which the sun miraculously appeared (vanquishing the threat of Tropical Storm Danny), just as our guests were arriving.Also miraculous was the ability of a hair dryer to vanquish the dark stains from an entire glass of vodka and orange juice, … [Read more...] about Post-Wedding Haze (and classified information) UPDATED

Update on my son's wedding, this Saturday evening on Long Island: NO-O-O-O-O!!! … [Read more...] about Family Wedding, Long Island-Style (hurricane edition)