Before I give you my fourth CultureGrrl Countdown of the year’s most important posts (previous editions: here, here and here), I want to warmly thank my most loyal followers—the 103 CultureGrrl Donors for 2009, who have helped me to believe that my work does have value to a select group of artworld aficionados and to hope that next year these numbers may increase.
The Complete Guide to Collecting Art is now in the mail, as promised, to CultureGrrl Repeat Donor 100 (hooray!) from Midway, UT. My warm thanks also go out to CultureGrrl Repeat Donors 101 and 102, from Beacon, NY, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as well as new CultureGrrl Donor 103, closer to home, in New York City.
CultureGrrl landmarks this year included my Best Blog award; my deaccessions talk at the University of Iowa; another deaccessions talk at the annual meeting of the Museum Association of New York and the Upstate History Alliance; and my participation on a bloggers panel at American University, which hosted the NEA International Arts Journalism Institute in Visual Arts.
And let us not forget (although I probably should) CultureGrrl‘s stunningly rapid disqualification for the Pulitzer Prize!
This was also the year when I (reluctantly) started tweeting and, much more enthusiastically, launched the CultureGrrl Channel on YouTube.
As I continue trying to figure out how this enterprise can make cents as well as sense, I hope that those of you who regularly read me will consider ringing in the New Decade by buzzing the yellow “Donate” button. There’s still time to make a completely NON-deductible donation before the end of 2009! Thanks to the ArtsJournal techies, there’s now a glitzy animated ad magnet in the upper right (which has yet to attract any sponsors). Click that brown woodgrain thing, then click the “Choose Blogs” link at the top, and then scroll down to tick the CultureGrrl box, if you’d like to make my day and make a connection with my readers.
And now, art-lings, without further ado—CultureGrrl’s Top 20 Stories for 2009 (in chronological order). For the purposes of this list, I’ve mostly omitted reviews and focused on unique coverage or important issues that I’ve been following:
New China-U.S. Antiquities Agreement: Some Concessions to U.S. Museums and Dealers
Deaccession Revisions: AAMD Needs to Tighten Its Own Standards
Should Brandeis President Reinharz Be Deaccessioned?
Richard Armstrong Goes Global: My Interview with the Guggenheim’s New Director
Jeremy Unmuzzled: Strick’s Candid Account of the LA MOCA Saga
Brodsky Bill: NY Assemblyman Targets Desperation Deaccessions
Sorriest Sight: Inside Iowa’s Flooded, Evacuated Museum
Virago in Chicago: My Irreverent Photo Essay on the Modern Wing
Defending the MoMA Monster at City Planning: No Crowds, No Shadows
How Will NEA’s Landesman Play in Peoria? Congressman’s Spokesperson (and readers) Speak Out
Bricks-and-Mortar Morass: Cleveland Desecrates Donor Intent
“United We Serve”: Should the Arts be Politically Exploited?
Cleveland’s Manna from Hanna: The Clear Intent of the Crucial Codicil
Memo To Jon Landman: What’s Wrong with the NY Times’ Arts Coverage
Memo to Jon Landman: How to Improve the NY Times’ Arts Coverage
MoMA Monster Downsized: City Council Committee Approves 200-Foot Height Reduction
Manoogian Maneuvers: Michigan Collector Owned Crystal Bridges’ Tait; May Have Purchased National Academy’s Church, Gifford
My Q&A with Timothy Rub on Cleveland’s Deviation from Donor Intent
The New Museum’s Dakis Fracas: Is It Pay-to-Play?
Not Dead Yet: Museum Building Projects Are Alive and Kicking (updated here)
Happy New Year and a Great New Decade to all!