Broad Vision – A Museum Donor Who Calls The Shots

When philanthropist Eli Broad gave the LA County Museum of Art $50 million for its building project, he also won the right to pick the project’s architect. “Relations between museums and donors get especially dicey during building campaigns, when dreams of grandeur call for creative fundraising and arm-twisting. But in a philanthropic culture that prides itself on snagging big money without ceding control, the L.A. museum’s plan is a special case. The effort to transform LACMA’s melange of buildings into an elegant unity strikes a precarious balance of power with the major donor.”