“From 2001 to 2011, federal appropriations to the National Gallery grew from $73 million to $158 million — or rose 70 percent when accounting for inflation — a growth rate nearly triple that of other federally-funded cultural institutions such as the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.”
Category: visual
The Private Museum You’ll Never See
“Whether or not the museum ever opens to the public, it has already made its mark as a metaphor — a private art palace built on the skewed economics of globalization by and for the privileged few. Happy Labor Day.”
Los Angeles City Council Votes To Lift Mural Ban
“The action represents a culmination of years of hearings on a new regulatory scheme for murals. It seeks a balance between clashing interests: reviving the city’s muralist tradition; protecting neighborhoods from unwanted intrusions of large, sometimes controversial artworks; and controlling a proliferation of advertising in the guise of art.”
Rise Of The New Super-Galleries
“Thanks to a resurgent global-art market, some of the world’s top dealers are feeling flush and fueling a new gallery building boom–transforming factories, roller rinks and airplane hangars into showrooms for contemporary art. As a result, some of the most highly anticipated shows of the season are set to open in galleries, not museums.”
San Francisco Galleries Increasingly Priced Out Of Downtown
“Although San Francisco’s galleries have congregated downtown in Union Square for more than 50 years, dealers are increasingly being priced out by technology firms.”
Chimp Wins $10,000 Art Prize
“Brent, 37, created a delicate, vibrantly coloured work featuring daubs of violet, blue and yellow on paper. The entries were judged by noted primate researcher and conservationist, Jane Goodall.”
Two Spanish Regions Fight Over Title To 13th-Century Frescoes
“The government of Aragon, an autonomous region in the north east of Spain, is formally asking the neighbouring government of Catalonia to return Romanesque frescos that are in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, Barcelona.” The works were saved from a monastery that was badly damaged during the Spanish Civil War.
As Artworks Get Enormous, Galleries Selling Them Get Cavernous (Or Vice Versa)
“Thanks to a resurgent global-art market, some of the world’s top dealers are feeling flush and fueling a new gallery building boom – transforming factories, roller rinks and airplane hangars into showrooms for contemporary art. … Increasingly, the artworks on display are just as enormous, requiring cranes and teams of workers to display.”
Will The U.S.’s Tallest Statue Be Erected In A Suburb Of Tulsa?
Shan Gray, “a 57-year-old sculptor of Osage tribal heritage, is on a quixotic quest to erect a 217-foot-high bronze rendering of a Native American warrior with an eagle perched on his arm.”
Art Museum On English Seashore Tops One Million Visitors, Tripling Pre-Construction Estimates
“Before the Turner opened, it was predicted that about 300,000 people would walk through its doors in just over two years.”