Corcoran Hires Outside Consultants to Shape its Identity

The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has retained Lord Cultural Resources to determine how the institution can continue to survive, and whether its operation should remain linked to the Corcoran College of Art + Design. The Corcoran also plans to lease their adjacent parking lot to a local developer, who will erect an eight-story office building on the site once slated for a Frank Gehry-designed expansion.

Miami Art Museum Should Rethink its Identity

As the Miami Art Museum (MAM) breaks ground for its new Herzog and de Meuron-designed building in Museum Park, its leaders should rethink the scope of the institution’s program.

Metropolitan Museum Should Expand under Fifth Avenue Plaza

The Metropolitan Museum of Art plans to renovate the entire Fifth Avenue plaza in front of the museum, but the project will not include building new subterranean space, which was the scheme earlier in the decade until a lawsuit from neighbors led to scaling back the plan.

In Trinidad, an Ascendant Hindu Culture Celebrates Diwali

A three-day cultural tour of Trinidad and Tobago as a guest of the prime minister replaced vacation-spot clichés with a textured view of the tropical nation’s evolving identity. About half the population is decended from laborers brought from India in the 19th century to work the sugarcane plantations, and many are celebrating the Hindu festival Diwali.

SoHo Lofts for Artists Only?

A 1970s-era law still on the books that stipulates that lofts in SoHo be rented to artists. The law’s been ignored for years, but an article in today’s NY Times reports that since the recession the city is paying closer attention to its requirement that tenants be artists.

Jason Edward Kaufman is an art historian and critic with expertise in museums and the international art world.

A complete list of past articles is available here.

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