Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Government Support

“Invite Congress to Visit Your Museum Week”

I must be in a good mood, or something — after praising Graham Beal last night, I’m going to now praise the American Alliance of  Museums. They are advocating “Invite Congress to Visit Your Museum Week” for Aug. 10 through 17, and I think that is a great idea.

CA0Q1D94AAM hasn’t just come with the idea — I gather, but am not sure, that it has staged these weeks in the past — it has laid out for everyone to see a How-To guide. Among the recommendations:

Step 3: Follow Up with the office after sending the invitation.

Call the local office to find the name of the scheduler and call or email to follow up:

“I’ve recently sent an invitation for Rep./Sen. ________ to visit my museum in August. Can I speak with your scheduler about this request?”

You can find the office’s local contact information, or visit the Congressional website for local contact information. We recommend starting with the local office, but be aware that every legislator has their own scheduling process, so you may need to flexible. Be specific about why you are calling and what you are asking the legislator or staff to do–namely, visit the museum.

And:

Step 8: Make your case. Complete an Economic Impact Statement and Educational Impact Statement so you can share them during the meeting.

This How-To is so good that it includes a sample timeline and recommendations for follow-up.

And — icing on the cake — AAM has separately published Ten Rules for Engagement: Getting Involved In the Political Process.

Clearly, Congress has not been in the mood to support culture of late. Personal contact can help, and it certainly can’t hurt if it’s done properly. Kudos to AAM for helping out.

 

 

Peter Schjeldahl Is Mistaken, I Believe

hragLike many in the art world — take a look on Facebook — I was surprised that Peter Schjeldahl wrote on the New Yorker website that he favored the sale of the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection to pay the city’s creditors. I saw the headline, wondered what this esteemed art critic had to say, and immediately read the piece, to see what I had been missing in this argument.

As it turns out, nothing. I was amazed by the shallowness of the piece. Sure enough, I was not the only one. Before I could even contemplate how to respond here, an email from Hyperalleric landed in my mailbox, with a piece by Hrag Vartanian (at left). It begins:

Would New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl suggest that Greece sell the Parthenon to pay its crippling national debt? How about Italy or Spain or Portugal or Ireland, which have financial problems of their own — should they sell off national treasures, maybe a national forest, or part of their coastline to pay creditors? The stodgy critic known for his purple prose seems to have, obliviously or not, penned a poisonous exhibit A for justifying the shameless “asset stripping” of a museum collection held in trust for the public. …

…It’s worth noting that Schjeldahl’s post on the New Yorker website is without any real facts that demonstrate the dangers Detroit is facing, and it is mostly filled with vague notions of culture and concern for retirees…

With that, I agree (hence my surprise). Vartanian says of the sale, “I personally don’t think it will” happen — and I agreed from the start of this. Now I am not so sure. I think the art may have been put on the table in some sort of political game of chicken. But that game could not be stopped once the number of players in it increased dramatically to include powerful creditors. They, let’s face it, are only about the money. The governor, emergency manager, mayor and other pols do have other considerations — like the future of the city. Looks as if they should never has started this, because it can no longer be contained.

Smithsonian’s Clough: Is This A Strategy I See Before Me?

The Smithsonian Institution was in the papers again in recent days and it wasn’t great news. But it might have been good strategy.

250px-Wayne_CloughA week ago, on July 17, the Washington Post published an article headlined Smithsonian Institution grapples with maintenance of its growing inventory, which didn’t get much notice except perhaps within the Beltway. The story recapped the Smithsonian’s difficulties caring for the 137 million objects in its collections, and was pegged to a hearing before the Committee on House Administration last week.

But, while the Smithsonian has not, to my mind, been handling its museums terribly well of late, there might be a little bit of politics in that hearing. If G. Wayne Clough, the Secretary, didn’t engineer it, perhaps he should have.

The hearing came just days before this week’s release of the Appropriations Committee budget bill for the Smithsonian and other agencies. But I’m a tad suspicious about that.

I say that because, according to the Post report, the committee was following up on a 2006 report by the Smithsonian’s Inspector General, which

showed that management facilities in Maryland were inadequate. The report also showed deficiencies in security and inventory controls, leaving collections open to theft or misplacement of objects. In an audit of the National Museum of American History, the museum could not locate 10 percent of items sampled, including historic gold watches and Roman coins. Audits of several other institutions also revealed incomplete collections.

Yes, a seven-year-old report.

Clough then testified that the Smithsonian had invested $462 million to improve its collections management systems and $390 million to fix storage facilities since then. But them Deputy undersecretary Scott Miller told the panel that “Our budget is stretched, and this could inadvertently impact the progress we have made.”

This week’s budget for the Smithsonian from the House Appropriations allocated $660 million for the Smithsonian, down $155 million versus last year’s enacted level. They must have known that something of this nature was coming — or should have.

If Clough did help engineer this, his strategy hasn’t quite worked — yet. It still might. Obviously the full House has to take up the budget, as does the Senate. It won’t be a bad thing to have last week’s hearing fresh in the minds of the rest of Congress.

And heaven knows the Smithsonian needs help with its collections. As the Post related:

Smithsonian Inspector General Scott Dahl testified that the Smithsonian is still using inadequate storage space in Suitland, a temporary facility built in the 1950s that was never intended for permanent storage of collection items. In 2010, one of the buildings collapsed in a snowstorm, and another succumbed to the 2011 earthquake. Hazardous materials, such as asbestos, were found in others.

 

Arts Funding Slashed In The House

Today the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee released its FY 2014 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, and it’s worse for arts groups that you might have imagined:

I quote:

Museums and Cultural Institutions –

  • Smithsonian Institution – The Smithsonian Institution is funded at $660 million in the bill – a cut of $155 million (19%) below the fiscal year 2013 enacted level and commensurate with the overall reduction in the bill.
  • National Gallery of Art – The National Gallery of Art is funded at $104 million in the legislation – a decrease of $24.5 million (19%) below the fiscal year 2013 enacted level and commensurate with the overall reduction in the bill.
  • National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities – The bill includes $75 million for each program, which is a reduction of $71 million (49%) per endowment compared to the fiscal year 2013 enacted level.

Here’s the link to the press release. And here is the draft bill.

The National Humanitites Alliance decried the cuts and noted that “this funding level would devastate an agency that has already been reduced by 19 percent since 2010.”

Happy Fourth of July! You’re Invited

Do you recognize the painting at right?

PreyFourthIf so, congratulations — you are among the chosen invited to a gathering tomorrow by one of the American embassies around the world to celebrate Independence Day. Many invited their international counterparts and colleagues to share in “themed festivities” and they all use the same image for their invitations. This’ year’s choice is the painting at right. It’s titled The Collection and was painted by Barbara Ernst Prey, an artist who lives in New York City. She also operates galleries in Williamstown, MA and Port Clyde, Maine, according to a press release highlighting the State Dept.’s choice this year.

Prey also designed the White House’s 2003  Christmas card, and participates in the  ART in Embassies program, which places art works in embassies around the world. Hers have been shown in “Paris, Madrid, Oslo, Prague” and she has also lectured about American art around the world. She currently sits on the National Council on the Arts, the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Prey specializes in “classic American landscapes,” and (to me) exhibits the spirit of Norman Rockwell in her works. The announcement I received said that “two of Ms. Prey’s paintings, Hydrangeas and Walker’s Point, are currently on exhibit at the newly designed George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, Texas. Private collectors of Ms. Prey’s work include Orlando Bloom and Tom Hanks.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Barbara PreyÂ