Archives for October 2009

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

NY Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, would-be slayer of the MoMA MonsterAt its review session Monday, New York's City Planning Commission gave its go-ahead for Jean Nouvel's MoMA/Hines tower, as modified by the City Council's Land Use Committee. The project still needs to be approved by the full City Council, which may well happen at its Oct. 28 meeting. The full Council almost … [Read more...] about Only Two More Hurdles for the MoMA Monster: City Council and the Economy

It's not on the website at this writing, but the Center for Curatorial Leadership has just announced its 2010 fellows. (How did the Metropolitan Museum gets TWO spots?)Here are the chosen dozen, who intend to hone their "administrative, managerial, and fundraising expertise":Christophe Cherix, Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art, New … [Read more...] about Center for Curatorial Leadership Names 2010 Fellows

Merryl H. Tisch, Chancellor, NY State Board of RegentsThe NY State Board of Regents yesterday bought more time: It unanimously revised and extended its emergency rules on deaccessioning by museums and historical societies, postponing the adoption of final rules, which had previously been planned for this month's meeting. This is is the latest of six emergency actions on this … [Read more...] about Deaccession Regulations: NY State Regents Extend (and revise) Temporary Rules

Click above, to show you care.I'm not wealthy and I don't make many donations. I give almost exclusively to entities that have greatly enhanced my own quality of life---primarily the educational institutions that I've attended. And as soon as I finish writing this post, I intend to make a contribution to WQXR, the New York classical music station that I listen to daily and rely … [Read more...] about Why I’m Donating to WQXR (and why you should support CultureGrrl)