> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Week in Review: Whitney Museum Workers Unionize; Leon Black Accused of Abuse - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-whitney-museum-workers-unionize-leon-black-accused-of-abuse/ - Published: 2021-06-03T20:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:32.000Z - Description: Also, dozens of artists demanded the release of dissident Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and more. - Author: Jasmine Weber - Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1) W*eek in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://newsletters.hyperallergic.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter*. ## Museums At [last week's "Strike MoMA" protest](https://hyperallergic.com/protesters-convene-at-moma-to-denounce-police-violence-in-colombia/), demonstrators convened to denounce police violence in Colombia. MoMA trustee Paula Crown’s husband James Crown, a speaker said, is a director at a weapons conglomerate with ties to violence in Israel, Colombia, and elsewhere. The Whitney Museum [voluntarily recognized its staff union,](https://hyperallergic.com/whitney-museum-voluntarily-recognizes-union/) bypassing the election, but labor representatives say the Whitney is trying to exclude positions from the bargaining unit. MoMA trustee Leon Black was [accused of defamation and sexual abuse in a lawsuit](https://hyperallergic.com/moma-trustee-leon-black-accused-of-defamation-and-sexual-abuse-in-lawsuit/). ## Open Letters In an open letter, dozens of artists and scholars including John Akomfrah and Carrie Mae Weems [demanded the release of dissident Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara](https://hyperallergic.com/john-akomfrah-carrie-mae-weems-and-others-demand-release-of-dissident-cuban-artist/). Over 1,000 people signed a letter [urging Canadian art institutions to end their collaborations with Israel-funded cultural activities](https://hyperallergic.com/canadian-artists-and-cultural-workers-voice-solidarity-with-palestinian-struggle-against-occupation-and-apartheid/). ## Repatriation A portrait of an anti-Nazi gynecologist was [acquired by two UK institutions](https://hyperallergic.com/portrait-of-anti-nazi-gynecologist-is-acquired-by-two-uk-institutions/), becoming the first artwork to be allocated to multiple museums under a British law. Two religious lintels were [repatriated to Thailand ](https://hyperallergic.com/after-five-decades-in-san-francisco-two-lintels-repatriated-to-thailand/)from the San Francisco Asian Art Museum after five decades. ## Unusual Orchestras A [plant concert](https://hyperallergic.com/a-plant-concert-blooms-in-an-abandoned-building/), conceptualized by the late artist Martin Roth, will soon bloom in a Victorian house in upstate New York. Listen to the spooky cacophony of [spider web sounds](https://hyperallergic.com/artist-tomas-saraceno-makes-music-out-of-spider-webs/), orchestrated by artist Tomás Saraceno with the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists. ## In Other News Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has [lifted its mask requirement](https://hyperallergic.com/bostons-museum-of-fine-arts-is-lifting-its-mask-requirement/) in alignment with a statewide mask ordinance. In New York, the Guggenheim and Whitney Museums will continue to require masks. See the oddest images from the [Guinness World Records photo archives](https://hyperallergic.com/the-oddest-images-from-the-guinness-world-records-photo-archives/). A stained glass portrait by Kehinde Wiley is the first work by a queer Black artist to [enter the collection of the Stained Glass Museum](https://hyperallergic.com/stained-glass-portrait-by-kehinde-wiley-lights-up-a-uk-cathedral/) in the UK. People worldwide submit photos of abandoned artworks to Jason Osborne, who began his [Instagram account for discarded art](https://hyperallergic.com/where-do-paintings-go-after-their-owners-abandon-them/) in 2011. ## Awards & Accolades - Betye Saar was awarded the 26th Wolfgang Hahn Prize by the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst am Museum Ludwig. ## Transitions - Kymberly Pinder was named dean of the Yale School of Art. She is the first woman of color to head the school. - Allison Glenn was named senior curator and director of public art at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. | [CultureType](https://www.culturetype.com/2021/05/30/contemporary-arts-museum-houston-appoints-allison-glenn-senior-curator-and-director-of-public-art/?ref=hyperallergic.com) ## In Memoriam - Jay Belloli (1945–2021), writer and curator | [*LA Times*](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-03/jay-belloli-pasadena-curator-jpl-space-photography-dies?ref=hyperallergic.com) - Eric Carle (1929–2021), artist and author known for the children's book *The Very Hungry Caterpillar* | [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/eric-carle-dead/2021/05/26/cbb39414-2234-11e4-8593-da634b334390%5Fstory.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) - Judith Godwin (1930–2021), Abstract Expressionist artist | [Berry Campbell](https://www.instagram.com/p/CPlz7t6lmyA/?utm%5Fmedium=copy%5Flink&ref=hyperallergic.com) - Robbie McCauley (1942–2021), stage artist - Meg Perlman (1950–2021), curator | [Dignity Memorial](https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/new-york-ny/meg-perlman-10215433?ref=hyperallergic.com) - Evelyne Porret (1941–2021), ceramicist | [TheNational](https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/egypt-mourns-evelyne-porret-the-lady-of-tunis-village-1.1234255?ref=hyperallergic.com) - Dashawn Robertson aka Lil Loaded (2001–2021), rapper | [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-57275571?ref=hyperallergic.com)