Grilling The New Guy

As James Cuno prepares take over the leadership of the Art Institute of Chicago, he faces not only the scrutiny of the local critics, but the pressure of leading a major art institution at a time when much of the industry is looking for a way out of the “blockbuster” trend, without risking irrelevancy in the eys of the public. Cuno seems unfazed by the challenge: “Increasingly, people come to museums at different times of their life. We shouldn’t only think of the learning museum as something for young people. Increasingly it’s for older people. Our generations have been aging differently. So we need to be responsive to young and mature and senior learners as much as anything.”