Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Where am I going? Where have I been? (This is a clue.)I'm taking my own advice, for the time being, shifting my attention towards remunerated mainstream media work. Having rocked with Rocco, I'm headed out tomorrow on a week-long trip, the first part of which involves another paid assignment. And I've got another one lined up after that.Therefore, I won't be covering for you … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl’s Novel Idea: Paid Journalism, for a Change

Portrait of Rocco Landesman from my Wall Street Journal article, by Ken FallinMy Cultural Conversation with the National Endowment for the Arts' new chairman, Rocco Landesman, ran long today (the whole above-the-fold space on P. D7 of the Personal Journal section), but still not long enough to encompass our entire conversation, which lasted only about 25 minutes but was … [Read more...] about Rockin’ with Rocco: More from Our WSJ Conversation

Rocco Landesman, speaking last month in Brooklyn, NYWhen Rocco Landesman, the new chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, was in New York on Oct. 21, I didn't merely attend his speech. I also interviewed him. On the "Leisure & Arts" page of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal, you'll see that Landesman has in no way curbed his tongue since the infamous Peoria incident. I … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WSJ Conversation with NEA’s Rocco Landesman UPDATED

The putative Michelangelo of Fifth Avenue, as it appeared in June in the entrance rotunda of the French Cultural Services headquarters, New York If all goes according to plan, I'll be going later today to the Metropolitan Museum's press preview for the putative "Michelangelo of Fifth Avenue," as it became known from a 1996 NY Times article by the late John Russell. It will … [Read more...] about Is “The Young Archer” by Michelangelo? It Fails the Testicles Test. UPDATED

Chief curator Ann Temkin, flanked by Peter Reed, MoMA's senior deputy director for curatorial affairs, left, and director Glenn Lowry, at the museum's recent press breakfast The expected has now happened: The NY City Council yesterday afternoon voted overwhelmingly (only three dissenters) to approve the Jean Nouvel-designed MoMA Monster, now reduced in height to a "mere" … [Read more...] about More Space for Temkin’s Rehang: NY City Council Approves the MoMA/Hines Tower

Timothy Rub, speaking to the press outside the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum's Gorky retrospectiveI was grateful that Timothy Rub, director of the Philadelphia Museum, was willing to talk to me at all, given my harsh criticism of the Cleveland Museum's decision (made during his directorship there) to funnel to its expansion project up to $75 million in income from funds … [Read more...] about My Q&A with Timothy Rub on Cleveland’s Deviation from Donor Intent

Timothy Rub, left, former director of the Cleveland Museum, and Terence Riley, right, former director of the Miami Art MuseumMuseum directors know that an important part of their job description is raising big bucks from culturally-minded and civic-minded donors. But few (none that I know of) become directors because soliciting money is their passion. It's a means to an end, … [Read more...] about Miami and Cleveland: When the Financial Going Got Tough, the Directors Got Going

Terence Riley, former director of Miami Art MuseumThis is a shocker. I know nothing about the resignation of Terence Riley from the directorship of the Miami Art Museum, other than what's in the press release that just hit my inbox with a loud thud. What makes this even more surprising is that he resigned "effective immediately"---usually a sign that something is amiss. … [Read more...] about News Flash: Terence Riley Resigns Directorship of Miami Art Museum UPDATED

Philippe de Montebello, left; his successor, Tom Campbell, right, speaking at the MetThe Metropolitan Museum's illustrious director emeritus, Professor Philippe de Montebello, is well into his fall semester course, "The Meaning of Museums," at the NYU Institute of Fine Arts. But what will he be teaching this spring? Let's go to the prof's NYU webpage:Spring 2010 … [Read more...] about Philippe, the Spring Semester: His Cultural-Property Colloquium (and Kimmelman’s crash course)

Who am I to talk about an "unsustainable business model"?Only one CultureGrrl reader got this message of a week ago and actually decided to act upon it. I've run out of ideas of how to impress upon those who appreciate the blog how loath I am to continue this work merely for the love of it.In the meantime, though, many warm thanks to CultureGrrl Donor 78 from Little Compton, … [Read more...] about Guilt for Gelt: No CultureGrrl Pals on PayPal

Curator Michael Taylor at the Philadelphia Museum's recent press lunchLet's remain in Philly, but switch moods from my habitual skepticism to unmitigated pleasure and admiration: The Arshile Gorky retrospective (to Jan. 10) that opened this week at the Philadelphia Museum is one of my favorite kinds of exhibition: It greatly strengthened my appreciation for an artist whom I'd … [Read more...] about Gorgeous Gorky in Philly: Michael Taylor Explains It All

Site of the planned Philly Barnes: demolition of juvenile detention center completed; zoning use permit at lower left.At some point, I owe you a report on the Barnes Foundation's recently released conceptual designs for its planned migration from Merion to Philadelphia. More detailed designs must yet be submitted, probably in very late 2009 or early 2010, for approval by the … [Read more...] about News Flash: Barnes Groundbreaking Set (Funding? Not)

The design (to be further refined) of the planned new Miami Art Museum was revealed yesterday at a public conversation in Miami among Terence Riley, the museum's director (who was formerly chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art) and two architects for the project from the firm of Herzog & de Meuron---Pierre de Meuron and Christine … [Read more...] about Miami Art Museum’s Planned New Building: Renzo Piano via Herzog & de Meuron?

The image that Sam Sifton chose for his Twitter pageToday's review of a mogul-filled Manhattan restaurant, Marea, by the NY Times' fledgling restaurant critic, Sam Sifton (formerly the paper's culture editor), shows that you can take the writer out of the Culture Department, but you can't take the Culture Department out of the writer. It looks like he's decided that food … [Read more...] about Cultural Critique: Sam Sifton, New Restaurant Critic, Trashes “Bye Bye Birdie”

The new logo for the National Endowment for the ArtsIn his keynote address at Grantmakers in the Arts' 2009 Recession Conference: Navigating the Art of Change, which I attended in Brooklyn today, Rocco Landesman was his usual combative self, acknowledging the "reconstructive" work of predecessors, Dana Gioia and Bill Ivey, in "build[ing] strong relationships on Capitol Hill" … [Read more...] about MeTube: Rocco Landesman Briefs Grantmakers on His NEA Agenda