The Met’s New Top Woman

For the first time, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has named a woman as its president. Emily Kernan Rafferty, 55, has been with the Met for 28 years, “and is credited with leading the creation of the Met’s Web site, and building its membership.” She will take over in January, and will oversee the Met’s $155 million renovation.

The Truly Independent Scholar

To make a living as a scholar, you generally need to be associated with a college or university, and earn your keep by teaching. But there are a few professional scholars who prefer to be their own bosses, and work outside the constraints of academia. “Working from home offers advantages such as the freedom from papers to grade or departmental meetings to attend. The drawbacks tend to be financial.” Indie scholars also can have a hard time getting access to libraries, and grants to pursue their research can be hard to come by as well.

Where’s The Public Love For Nasher?

“[Dallas’s] Nasher Sculpture Center opened a year ago to nearly universal critical acclaim… Nothing has happened since to discredit those opinions. The trifecta of Renzo Piano’s building, Raymond and Patsy Nasher’s exemplary collection and Peter Walker’s lush garden has produced a cultural attraction that actually deserves the overused acclamation ‘world class.'” So why hasn’t the Nasher’s attendance matched its reputation? In its first year of existence, the Nasher drew 175,000 visitors, compared with 425,000 for the Dallas Museum of Art and 370,000 for Fprt Worth’s Kimbell Museum.

An Agent Of Political Change

“Sandy Dijsktra has been called an über agent as much for the passion she brings to her projects as for the authors she represents. Apparently her passion also extends to politics.” A recent e-mail sent to all her clients announced that she will not be sending out a holiday card this year, so that she can put the money it would cost towards supporting presidential candidate John Kerry. And while it may not be a surprise that a Californian working in the arts industry would be supporting a Democrat, Dijkstra has certainly taken an unusual step, particularly for an agent who has a predilection for “recruiting authors from the ranks of journalists.”

Munch Thieves May Be Identified Soon

Authorities searching for Edvard Munch’s stolen masterpiece, The Scream, may finally have a solid lead. The getaway car used in the robbery has been exhaustively examined, and police say that they now have knowledge of “persons with connections to criminal circles in eastern Norway” who are known to have used the car after it was seen parked on a farm last year.

Is Canada Really Stealing Hollywood Productions?

A new study commissioned by the Canadian film industry disputes the idea that “runaway” movie shoots are hurting U.S. interests. “Despite claims of U.S. job losses, employment in the U.S. production industry has actually increased by 6.6 per cent since 1998.” The report also disputes the figures in an earlier study backed by American actors and producers, which claimed that Canada had caused $10.3 billion worth of economic loss to U.S. film interests.

Arts PAC Prepares To Up The Ante

Americans For The Arts has announced that it will create a political action committee to directly lobby politicians for greater arts support. The new PAC is funded by a $120 million grant from the Lily Foundation, and “one of the group’s first moves will be to issue congressional report cards on individual legislators’ support of the arts and arts issues. Another of the group’s functions will be training advocates on how to promote bond, tax or other arts-funding issues in their communities.”

Maybe They Didn’t Factor In The Exchange Rate

“A Toronto production company has failed to come up with the mil lions of dollars it had planned to in vest in several of this season’s new Broadway musicals, leaving the producers of those shows scrambling to fill significant last-minute gaps in their budgets.” Affected shows include a revival of La Cage Aux Folles, and the new musicals Brooklyn and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.