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It took more than six years, but President Obama got his way today, appointing the first African-American as Librarian of Congress: Carla D. Hayden, head of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore’s public library. I should say “nominating, because with this Congress and this President, who know what will happen.

I first suggested that the LOC’s librarian James Billington, then 80, would be eased out back in 2009. My sources in Washington for that also tipped me to Hayden’s likely appointment.

But Billington has his friends and they contributed money to the LOC. He survived reports of mismanagement, including one issued a year ago by the GAO, as reported by the Washington Post:

The result of a year-long investigation by the Government Accountability Office, the report reveals a work environment lacking central oversight and faults Librarian of Congress James H. Billington for ignoring repeated calls to hire a chief information officer, as required by law….

“There’s nobody running the ship,” said retired inspector general Karl Schornagel, who worked with Billington for almost 13 years until retiring in 2014. “There’s a lot of individual parties doing their own thing.”

Billington finally retired at the age of 86 last year.

And Obama has kept steady on his goal of making a historical appointment. As I recall, not everyone was happy her either, but that’s Washington for you.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun

 

Stay tuned this afternoon for a strange and perhaps (a little) juicy announcement from the Metropolitan Museum of Art*. When trustees meet late this afternoon, one item on the agenda will be formal approval of a new trustee designated by the city’s controller, Scott Stringer (below).

It will be none other than Harold Holzer, who until last summer was Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, at the Met–for years, the chief spokesman. And so a former employee now turns up as a trustee.

All of which shows that art and politics do not make strange bedfellows.

Holzer left the Met, of course, with plenty of things to do–everyone knows that he is an expert on Lincoln, with a few dozen books to his credit and more books on the way. He also signed on for a new job right away: director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. But Holzer has always been plugged in to Democratic party politics; he worked for Bella Abzug and Mario Cuomo, and has stayed connected to many people in city and state government. That was part of his job, some would say. Clearly, he knows Stringer.

But his new post, while not unprecedented (Robert Kasdin, a former treasurer and chief investment officer at the Met, also went on the board), could make for delicate moments. When Holzer left the Met, director Thomas Campbell said in the announcement: “We will miss his quick wit, wry humor, felicitous prose and savvy advice.” At the time, though, there was gossip that Campbell wanted his own person in Holzer’s job–just as he has wanted his own people, unconnected to the previous administration of Philippe de Montebello, in other important jobs.

So now he has one of them back, sort of. Holzer of course won’t be crafting press releases or statements from the director, but he’ll be there watching while policy is discussed and set.

One caveat: While I have all of this on good authority, something could always go wrong, of course.

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met.

 

 

 

 

When more than a half dozen people shake their heads in disbelief at a museum announcement, and make a point of asking me what I think, I’d say it was time to weigh in publicly.

The announcement that is raising questions came last Tuesday from the Museum of the City of New York. The board announced, in a press release sent to donors and The New York Times, but not to a wide circle of reporters and not easily discovered on its website (it does not come up in Search), that it had hired Whitney W. Donhauser as its new director. She replaces Susan Henshaw Jones. Here is the description of her experience in the words of an email signed by James Dinan, the board chair:

Whitney is a 23-year veteran of The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she has served in various capacities including development, administration, and external affairs. She has spent the last 10 years as senior advisor to the Met’s President.

The release sent to donors continued, after a quote from Dinan:

At the Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Donhauser has had leadership responsibility overseeing major museum functions and projects, collaborating with development, facilities, security, visitor services and capital projects. She has also been involved with coordinating exhibition planning and implementation, marketing and government relations. She worked on the trustee committee on the design selection for the David H. Koch Plaza and played a role in managing its construction. In addition, she supervised the early phase of planning for the Metropolitan Museum’s upcoming use of the Breuer Building, former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art on 75th Street and Madison Avenue.

In other words, Donhauser–whom I have met once or twice and have nothing against–has had no real management experience. She has no direct experience with collections or with exhibitions. She has been part of various teams, been a liaison among groups, has supervised or been “involved” with the work of others. But she has never actually “led” anything substantial at the Met. She has a B.A. from Vassar–the release does not say in what. Was it relevant? Who knows. We also don’t know what, if anything, she knows about New York City history–the subject of the museum, after all.

Leading a museum takes leadership skills that have been tested, somewhere. Equally important, it takes a vision. If Donhauser has a vision for the museum, it would have behooved the board chair to give the public (and donors) a hint about that. Jones has done many good things during her tenure, but the museum lacks a deep curatorial bench, a deep curatorial sense.

What this appointment seems to be about is money. Donhauser has had access to Emily Rafferty’s voluminous Rolodex. Trustees must have thought or bought the line that she can turn them into donors to the Museum of the City of New York–at least that’s my guess.

That key word “leadership” modifying “responsibility” in the release indicates to me that the museum knew the announcement would elicit skepticism. Why not try a preemptive strike?

As one former Met employee–who likewise has nothing against Donhauser–told me, “she presents well.” Other than that, he is mystified by the choice.

Worse, this mismatch of job and expertise is far from unique lately. Many eyebrows in the museum world were raised last May when the Brooklyn Museum* appointed Anne Pasternak as its director. She knows contemporary art and artists, but has had no previous museum experience. Brooklyn is a big, universal museum.

Another example: The World Monuments Fund recently chose Joshua David, formerly president of the High Line, as its new director. I have by way of second hand information–I am acquainted with David, whom I like, but have not had a chance to discuss his move with him–that he admits to knowing little or nothing about heritage preservation.

There are other examples.

I hope these and those other examples prove me wrong. I want these organizations to succeed. For now, I remain a skeptic.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the NYT

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Brooklyn Museum.