Harvard’s Substandard Museums

Rumors are swirling about the coming layoffs at Harvard University’s art museums, but Christine Temin points out that staff cuts are only a symptom of a larger sickness. “The university had already canceled plans for a major new riverside museum designed by Renzo Piano and lost a great director, James Cuno, to London’s Courtauld Institute. It has also put plans for a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the Fogg on hold until a new director arrives and starts a capital campaign. The Fogg’s galleries aren’t even climate-controlled, which makes it difficult to impossible to borrow works from other museums.”