Hasta La Ideas

It’s been a little while since the Smithsonian‘s gift shops have received any attention, perhaps since fall of 2007, when it was reported that none of them were making any money, “due to things like poor placement, bad displays and lack of stock.” Now the shops have been thrust back into the spotlight, though unfortunately for the organization, with roughly the same level of negative attention. This week, Capitol Hill set its sights on the Smithsonian, demanding that the institution start selling more American-made products in its gift shops, with West Virginia Representative Nick Rahall introducing the aptly named bill, “Buy American at the Smithsonian Act”

Mr. Rahall’s bill would prevent the Smithsonian from using federal money to construct or refurbish a building unless all items in its gift shops are American made. About 70 percent of the museum’s budget comes from the federal government.

While that bill covers the whole of the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History quickly acted, saying they’ve prepared to open their most patriotic gift shop yet:

Brent D.Glass,the director of the museum, said Thursday a third floor gift shop will be dedicated to American products. The shop will open on July 4th, Glass said. It is located next to the exhibitions “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War” and “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden.”

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Years ago, at a job this writer was stuck in for a brief-but-endless five months, one of his co-workers kept postcards on his desk of famous paintings that he felt looked like his wife. While we strongly disliked him, we had to admit that it was a clever idea and she really did look like she was straight out of 15th century royalty. That thrilling anecdote leads nicely into the latest stunt by the popular YouTube-favorite, Improv Everywhere, who played their latest bit of on-location improv at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They found an actor who looks remarkably similar to King Philip IV of Spain, whom Diego Velazquez painted roughly 400 years ago. Done up in full wardrobe, they brought the King in to sign autographs in front of his famous portrait. The results are short, sweet, and terrific:

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In monetary terms, art collectors like Eli Broad and his bevy of museums seem like fairly small fish when compared to Carlos Slim, the world’s wealthiest person. This week, Slim kicked off his first major foray into the museum building business with a pre-launch celebration of the Soumaya Museum, located in Mexico City. Unlike some of our billionaires (he’s estimated to be worth somewhere between $50 billion and $70 billion), the multi-industry magnate got very hands-on with the museum, from naming it after his late wife, to using his art collection to fill its six floors, to even hiring his son, a one-time Rem Koolhaas apprentice, as the building’s architect. Reuters reports that the inaugural party was hosted by Larry King and featured “some 1,500 guests ranging from Mexico’s president to Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” So even if you went and didn’t like the art, at least it was sure to be good people watching that night. The museum is set to officially open to the public on March 28th. We can’t wait to see inside, as the building itself looks mighty impressive (you’ll find a rendering below). However, we’re hoping by then that Slim spends a little chunk of his billions to build a proper website for it, as that frame-based layout just isn’t going to cut it.

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While the University of Iowa continues its frustrating battle with FEMA over where and if they can rebuild their art museum after floods in 2008 damage the former structure and forever made it un-insurable, the school has found itself locked into an art-based fight with another party, the Iowa state legislature. Unlike at Fisk or at Brandeis, where the universities themselves were trying to sell off some valuable art to help pay the bills, in U of I’s case, it’s the Republican leaders of the Iowa House, who just recently introduced and passed a bill that once again tries to make a case for the selling of the university’s prized, Peggy Guggenheim-donated “Mural” by Jackson Pollock (their last effort was just two years ago, immediately after the flood). The school doesn’t want it sold, the museum’s namesake, John Pappajohn, thinks the idea is “a disaster,” the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Association of Museums have issued letters saying what a horrible idea this is (the AAM has also threatened to pull accreditation from the university, should it go through), and original letters from 1963, written by Ms. Guggenheim, have been dug out, indicating that she wanted the canvas to stay put or would fight for its return, should the University ever got the itch to sell. The House believes that the sale of the painting, which is estimated to be worth somewhere between $100 to $200 million, would help create a large scholarship endowment for arts students and programs. All well and good and altruistic, until, as the LA Times‘ Christopher Knight puts it, once that endowment runs out, “someone would tell the Legislature that the university’s great Max Beckmann painting was also worth a lot of cash. And how about that Ad Reinhardt? And — well, you get the idea.” Lee Rosenbaum, per usual, is going full guns on an important arts issue, recapping this ongoing controversy. Given how these things usually pan out in long, drawn out fights, we’re guessing/hoping she continues, and we’re all beneficial for it. For those in Iowa this week who are against the move, we highly recommend hitting up the ‘Save the Pollock’ Rally on Thursday morning.

Update: The issue is now moot, with the legislature backing down and the sale now off the table.

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While the Smithsonian‘s American Art Museum might be
“>planning a sure-to-be-popular exhibit for next year about the art of video games, a group in San Francisco is attempting to build an entire museum around the subject. The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment has recently been established with the intent of collecting pieces of digital works of art and video games and exhibiting them as a traditional, brick and mortar museum in the Bay Area (here’s their full mission statement). While they’ve received non-profit status and have assembled a large, impressive collection, the trick is now finding a space to house it in. They’ve launched a Kickstarter page, and are already nearly $8,000 into their $20,000 goal, which if they’re given, they’ll put to use for “rent and utilities associated with a ~1000 sq ft space near BART for 6 months to a year, depending on the rent we find. Additional funds will keep the space open longer.” Once you’ve sent them some cash, if you’re on the hunt for a way to break into the museum world, they’re also looking to fill a number of positions, all the way up to Chief Curator and Director of Marketing. Might sound a bit risky, the MADE doesn’t even have a location yet, but hey, even the Met and the Guggenheim started from scratch, right?

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