During my New York Public Radio debate last week with Nick Gillespie on WNYC's "Soundcheck Smackdown," I strongly defended prospective visits from this country to Cuba by both classical (the NY Philharmonic) and pop (Colombian-born Juanes) musicians. But I kept thinking: What would Celia say? The ghost in my apartment, the late Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, was one of this … [Read more...] about Cultural Diplomacy in Cuba: What Would Celia Say?
Archives for September 2009
O’Keeffe Museum Appeals the Ruling That Removed It from the Fisk Stieglitz Collection Case
Barbara Buhler Lynes. Georgia O'Keeffe Museum's curator, at Whitney's press preview for O'Keeffe Abstraction showBack in July, I reported that the Tennessee Court of Appeals had ruled that the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, lacked "standing to participate" in the court battle over whether Fisk University could sell to Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum a half-share … [Read more...] about O’Keeffe Museum Appeals the Ruling That Removed It from the Fisk Stieglitz Collection Case
Cleveland’s Manna from Hanna: The Clear Intent of the Crucial Codicil UPDATED
Sleeping Watchdog: Ohio's Attorney General, Richard Cordray According to recent press accounts, the Cleveland Museum has been publicly justifying its request for court permission to divert income from four acquisition funds to its capital campaign on ghoulish grounds---a theory that the deceased donors, were they alive today, would have wanted their money to be tapped to … [Read more...] about Cleveland’s Manna from Hanna: The Clear Intent of the Crucial Codicil UPDATED
Mary Schmidt Campbell Among President Obama’s Appointees to President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Mary Schmidt CampbellShe didn't get appointed to the chairmanship of the National Endowment for the Arts, as I had once recommended. But Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and former executive director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, has just been tapped by President Obama to be vice chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts … [Read more...] about Mary Schmidt Campbell Among President Obama’s Appointees to President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Gibson’s WSJ Piece Decries Cleveland’s “Communing With the Dead”
Eric GibsonThis is a press preview-intense time of year. But before I run off to the Whitney, I must direct you to a forceful piece by Eric Gibson in today's Wall Street Journal, Ghosts in the Museum, which takes the Cleveland Museum to task for seeking court permission to partially fund its expansion by tapping the income from endowments restricted by their donors for … [Read more...] about Gibson’s WSJ Piece Decries Cleveland’s “Communing With the Dead”
Licking My Wounds from WNYC’s “Soundcheck Smackdown” on Cultural Diplomacy
I just got back home from WNYC's Soundcheck Smackdown and I'm very glad to be back in the company of my husband, who occasionally DOES let me get a word in edgewise. It appears from the comments posted on New York Public Radio's website that I won by a knockout (or rather, that the loquacious challenger, Nick Gillespie, lost it). I haven't listened to myself yet, but I know … [Read more...] about Licking My Wounds from WNYC’s “Soundcheck Smackdown” on Cultural Diplomacy
Today on WNYC: My “Soundcheck Smackdown” on Art-and-Diplomacy
John Schaefer, host of WNYC's "Soundcheck"Now that I've been pummeled on my own blog by a CultureGrrl reader, I'm going to take some more punches on New York Public Radio's "Soundcheck Smackdown" (on which I've come out swinging once before). This time, my assailant will be Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason Online, on the topic of "the effectiveness and appropriateness … [Read more...] about Today on WNYC: My “Soundcheck Smackdown” on Art-and-Diplomacy
Jon Landman Succeeds Sifton as NY Times Culture Editor
Jon LandmanI could find nothing about this yet on the NY Times' own website, but John Koblin of the NY Observer has the story: Jon Landman, the paper's deputy managing editor for digital journalism, has been named to replace new restaurant critic Sam Sifton as culture editor. Landman had this culture post once before, during a year-long, 2004-5 transitional period that ended in … [Read more...] about Jon Landman Succeeds Sifton as NY Times Culture Editor
Shot at the Morgan: My Jill Krementz Moment
Photographer Jill Krementz, whom I often encounter snapping the art, curators and viewers at museum press previews, is now associate editor for New York Social Diary, for which she does photo essays. She is perhaps best known for her children's book, A Very Young Dancer, the most famous of her "very young" series.Now, more than 30 years later, it's time for the "very old" … [Read more...] about Shot at the Morgan: My Jill Krementz Moment
BlogBack: A Critic of My NEA Critique
I was afraid that some readers would interpret in the following manner my criticism (here and here) of the National Endowment for the Arts' recent involvement in the President's "United We Serve" initiative. In these politically fractious times, I'm sure that CultureGrrl reader Eric (who asked me to withhold from publication his last name and other identifiers) is not alone in … [Read more...] about BlogBack: A Critic of My NEA Critique
Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today
Send a micro-donation of either $1.50 (for the day) or $15 (for links through October) via my "Buy Now" button, below, and I'll shoot you these links: Farnsworth Museum to auction donated Wyeths, benefiting new Wyeth Endowment; Vermeer restitution claim; new book on WWII Monuments Men; the Rocco Landesman interview you shouldn't miss. LEE'S LINKS Today's Links $1.50 This … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today
Indianapolis Museum Goes Bilingual for Spanish Art Show UPDATED
Indianapolis Museum of Art (Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion)Remember the kerfuffle over the Los Angeles County Museum's failure to provide bilingual labels for its 2007 exhibition (organized by the Philadelphia Museum), The Arts in Latin America: 1492-1820?It appears Indianapolis has learned from LA's mistake.Already up on the Indianapolis Museum of Art's website for its … [Read more...] about Indianapolis Museum Goes Bilingual for Spanish Art Show UPDATED
Barnes Documentary Premieres in Toronto: “Power-Hungry Monsters”? UPDATED
Director Don ArgottFrom the Toronto International Film Festival's even-handed description of the new documentary about the Barnes Foundation, "The Art of the Steal," it was difficult to discern whether the film itself was also even-handed or took sides in the contentious dispute over whether the collection of Albert Barnes should be moved from Merion to Philadelphia, contrary … [Read more...] about Barnes Documentary Premieres in Toronto: “Power-Hungry Monsters”? UPDATED
No Time for Sergant: NEA Won’t Answer Questions
Rocco Landesman, NEA's ChairmanLast night I sent a series of questions to the Sally Gifford, Victoria Hutter (press spokespersons) and Yosi Sergant (former spokesperson) of the National Endowment for the Arts, asking (among other things) to what post at the agency Yosi has now been reassigned and why that change was made. I also asked to be told who made the decision to change … [Read more...] about No Time for Sergant: NEA Won’t Answer Questions
My WNYC “Vermeer” Podcast (and the X-rated part they deleted)
Although my Vermeer podcast is STILL not up on WNYC's website, I've now managed to embed the audio file below. Click the arrow on the left. (UPDATE: Now it's up, but there's no embed code, so I'm leaving my own rudimentary audio bar.) As I suspected might happen, they've edited out my comment about how my imagination ran wild after hearing curator Walter Liedtke's provocative … [Read more...] about My WNYC “Vermeer” Podcast (and the X-rated part they deleted)