Category: AJBlogs

In “Listen vs. Tell” I spoke of the necessary switch from telling people about our work to listening to them as a pre-requisite for effective communication. As happens not infrequently, Carter Gilles responded thoughtfully and at length. He has given me permission to share his expansion on my thoughts here. — Doug Borwick

Instead of relaxing into the New Year and creating the annual column about the favorite things of the last 12 months, we went to Paris. Yes, we saw a lot of art in a week. It was all glorious. But then we had this experience. — Margy Waller

Kimbrough, Robinson, Reid, Drummond: Monk’s Dreams
— Doug Ramsey

What happens when a critic decides an exhibition will be good before she goes to see it? – Lee Rosenbaum

It is sometimes necessary to specify a third dimension – bulk or thickness – when describing a Buckley painting. The other giveaway that tells you a painting is by Buckley is its rough edges – not in any sense unfinished – but tough, butch surfaces. — Paul Levy

Keyboardist and synthesizer specialist Jim Baker has led the collective quartet Extraordinary Popular Delusions playing every Monday night in obscure Chicago venues for the past 13 years. — Howard Mandel

Dave McKenna In Madison (Arbors)
McKenna (1930-2008) breathes life into this album, recorded in the early 1990s at Farley’s House of Pianos in Madison, Wisconsin and only recently released. — Doug Ramsey

No mission statement should be the template for another organization (that’s very nearly a truism for us in the nonprofit world), but being able to see commitment to engagement in the mission is a pre-requisite for effectiveness. Is it obvious in yours? — Doug Borwick

It’s been a bad-news month for the Smithsonian: On Dec. 20, Secretary David Skorton — arguably the most successful, least embattled Smithsonian leader in recent memory — announced he’d be leaving his Smithsonian post in June. Just two days after this bombshell, the federal government shutdown began. — Lee Rosenbaum