Kaywin Feldman, AAMD’s president
I have often railed against a “Times-first” policy—that exasperating practice of spoonfeeding a cultural-news story of general interest and importance to a NY Times writer before the rest of the scribe tribe is allowed to get a taste of it. (My recent food-fight response to this was ketchup journalism.)
I don’t know whether it’s the NY Times or some other news organization that has been uniquely privileged with a chance to converse with Kaywin Feldman, the new president of the Association of Art Museum Directors. What I do know is that playing favorites in the first weeks of this new assignment is contrary to the public-spirited nature of her position as de facto spokesperson for American art museum directors.
On June 3, in advance of AAMD’s annual meeting, I had asked Janet Landay, executive director, if she could arrange for me to have “some phone interview time” with Feldman. I followed up on June 10, the day after Feldman was officially anointed, by reiterating my request in an e-mail to Anne-Marie Wagener, director of public relations at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (where Feldman is director). I had gotten to know Anne-Marie when I visited Minneapolis for my Wall Street Journal report on the Institute’s expansion, back when the director was William Griswold, Feldman’s predecessor.
On June 11, I received this e-mailed response, mistitled “Connecting with Kaywin,” from Sascha Freudenheim, vice president of Resnicow Schroeder Associates, the national PR firm specializing in the arts:
The documents [new AAMD statement on deaccessions; new strategic plan] are going through a final edit, and should be available in the next few weeks. Once that process is finished, we will share these two documents with you and that is the best moment around which to schedule a conversation with Kaywin, either by phone or in person. You’ll be able to ask about specifics, with the materials in hand…
…or maybe not (or at least not until Journalist “X” gets a piece published). Knowing that the deaccession statement was due to be released later today, I contacted Sascha and Janet again this morning and received this reply from Sascha:
We are working with a reporter who has a story in development, and we have agreed with this reporter to hold on other interviews with Kaywin in the meantime.
Bad agreement. Maybe from the perspective of a public-relations operative, this seems like the best way to roll out the new leadership. But allowing herself to be managed in this way is a no-win for Kaywin.
For what it’s worth, I have formally withdrawn my request for an interview.