“Six months after disclosing that it could no longer make payments on the $32 million it borrowed through a bond issue to finance the building, the museum is still in protracted negotiations to restructure its debt with the company that insured its bonds.”
Category: visual
LA City Council Approves Broad Museum
“The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved Eli Broad’s downtown museum Friday, a step closer for the estimated $80-million-to-$100-million structure to house 2,000-plus contemporary artworks he and his wife Edythe have collected.”
Architecture Experts Weigh In: Our Best Buildings
“We asked the world’s leading architects, critics, and deans of architecture schools two questions: what are the five most important buildings, bridges, or monuments constructed since 1980, and what is the greatest work of architecture thus far in the 21st century?”
9/11 Memorial And Museum: Not Just Another Museum?
“Far from being the toothless, tasteful tribute to American greatness many expected after an earlier incarnation, the International Freedom Center, was abandoned five years ago, the revamped museum promises an unblinking account of the violence and terror of Sept. 11, 2001.”
The Brooklyn Museum Challenge
“How to appeal to a new generation in a climate of persistent financial pressure and the ambition to grow, to do more, to expand its audience? By some measures it has succeeded. By others, including attendance goals articulated by the museum itself, it has not.”
Nigerian Collectors Rescue, or Maybe Create, the Nation’s Art Scene
In a country where public galleries can’t even count on a steady electricity supply, some oil and mineral tycoons “put their own money into gathering and cataloguing thousands of works of art.” Says one major collector, “For me, this is a philanthropic act.”
UK Clampdown On Art Imports Riles Dealers
UK customs officials tighten rules for bringing artwork into the UK “in bond” and this “has sent shockwaves” through the art world.
Christie’s Reports 46 Percent Increase In Sales In 2010
“The auction house said worldwide sales reached £1.71bn ($2.57bn) for the first six months of the year. Last year’s figure for the same period was £1.2bn ($1.8bn).”
San Francisco Deals With Graffiti Artists by Co-Opting Them
This city has for years taken a tough stance on graffiti, doling out stiff fines and sometimes jail time” – with limited success. “Now city officials are trying something different. San Francisco is partnering with street artists – who ply their wall-painting skills legally – paying them to paint buildings.”
A Look At This Year’s Stirling Architecture Prize Shortlist
A gallery of projects that made this year’s list…