Posted inArt

Should Museum Acquisitions Come at the Expense of their Education Departments?

Earlier this month, the J. Paul Getty Trust announced that it was cutting 34 jobs in its museum division. In and of itself, this wasn’t huge news; despite the absurdly booming art market, the national economy continues to sag, meaning museums have to contend with smaller endowments and less generous donors. But while museum cuts are nothing new, the Getty case is notable because of the fact that the cuts fall almost entirely on the institution’s education department.

Posted inOpinion

Tuesday Art Video: Night(s) At The Museum

Carmageddon 2011 might chiefly be remembered as the big transportation nightmare that wasn’t: an accelerated work schedule, coupled with a couple million people in the Los Angeles area realizing they didn’t need to drive anywhere last weekend after all, meant that the anticipated citywide gridlock and marathon traffic jams never came to pass. Which is too bad, because we really like the idea of that little Franco-Flemish piggie at the Getty Center getting the day off to roam around the museum and visit his fellow masterpieces.

Posted inArt

Wonder Cabinet: The Artist in Academia

Sometimes I have strange feelings for my computer. In the 13 years since I set up an email account, I have had a wide ranging series of emotional experiences while facing a screen. In the early days of email, I wrote long letters to friends, like the ones I used to write by hand and send through the mail. I received long letters too: messages of friendship and love and the occasional breakup, though these missives have become increasingly more brief and less frequent since Facebook …