Archives for June 2011

I'm about to powwow with my betters at the national conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Even Bill Keller, the executive editor of the NY Times (who is soon to step down), is scheduled to be there! (How come his successor, Jill Abramson, hasn't started tweeting yet?)Still, among the panelists on Digging Culture: The fine art of investigating the business of … [Read more...] about Off to Orlando: Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference

Harold Holzer, Metropolitan Museum's senior vice president for external affairsWhat exactly is the "economic necessity" that the Metropolitan Museum says is behind its recently announced admission-fee increase?Harold Holzer, the Met's senior vice president for external affairs, told me today that, unlike fiscal 2010, when the Met had an operating surplus of $3.7 million, the … [Read more...] about The Shaky Finances Behind the Met’s Admission Fee Increase

The Metropolitan Museum of ArtOn Friday, I promised to expand upon this post about the entirely predictable kerfuffle over the Metropolitan Museum's announced $5 increase in its suggested admission fee ($25, effective July 1). I never heard what soundbite New York Public Radio did (or didn't) use from my 10-minute Friday conversation on this topic with WNYC's reporter. But the … [Read more...] about More on the Met’s Admission-Fee Hike: Lessons in Pricing and Etiquette

Former Timeswoman Julle Iovine, writing in the blog of the Architect's Newspaper (where she is executive editor), got hold of culture editor Jonathan Landman's internal memo announcing the departure, after seven years, of Nicolai Ouroussoff, the NY Times' architecture critic. According to Landman's memo, Ouroussoff plans "to write a book about the architectural and cultural … [Read more...] about Architectural Transition: Nicolai Ouroussoff Leaves the NY Times

In its revised Professional Practices in Art Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors did a laudable job in directly confronting many of the thorny issues that have roiled the field in the 10 years since the last iteration of this bible for best practices in museums. (More on these issues later.) But there are a two hot-button topics that I feel urgently require … [Read more...] about AAMD’s Annual Meeting: CultureGrrl’s Hot-Button Agenda

The Metropolitan Museum has just won the NYC art-museum admissions-fee race (at least temporarily).Starting July 1, the recommended adult admission fee at the Met rises from $20 to $25, due to "economic necessity," as the press release helpfully explains. The "honors" for highest NYC art-museum admission price traditionally belongs to the Museum of Modern Art. But MoMA's … [Read more...] about Coming Soon: My WNYC Commentary on Met’s “Economic-Necessity” Admissions Increase UPDATED

Michael Taylor, new director of the Hood Museum, Dartmouth Michael Taylor is a lean, mean exhibition machine. (Well, at least the last part is true.) During his time as curator of modern art at the Philadelphia Museum, he's been responsible for a big chunk of that institution's best received, most illuminating shows, which have always been more than mere crowd-pleasers, … [Read more...] about Philly’s Loss: Michael Taylor Leaves the Parkway for Dartmouth’s Hood (plus: his Chagall show)

Dan Monroe, executive director of the Peabody Essex Museum and incoming AAMD presidentThis is very good news.At its annual meeting next week (June 5-8) in Raleigh, NC, Dan Monroe, executive director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, is to be named president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, of which he is currently vice president. He has a proven track … [Read more...] about News Flash: Dan Monroe to Be Named Next AAMD President

"Hide/Seek" substitution: David Hockney, "Adhesiveness," 1960, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth It's great that the National Portrait Gallery's landmark, gay-themed Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture (which closed Feb. 13) will travel---something that I've been urging since Dec. 8. It's particularly commendable that the two venues on the tour---the … [Read more...] about Wojnarovicz Glitch: Touring “Hide/Seek” Perpetuates Curatorial Concoction