Hasta La Ideas

Remember back in July and August when it seemed like everyone, including Kenneth Turan, Martin Scorsese, and us, in a very limited, snarky-just-to-be-snarky kind of way, were out for Michael Govan‘s head? This of course came after the museum director said he believed the Los Angeles County Museum of Art would have to temporarily trim back its film program due to the money issues it’s long been suffering from. Once the uproar died down, benefactors heeded the call and donated to keep the program going. Now, as a further patching up over the brief skirmish, Scorsese himself has agreed to appear with Govan in an on-stage conversation next Wednesday. But now that the dust has settled and everyone’s back to being best friends, the blog Hyde or Die asks if all of this was even necessary to begin with and if maybe Govan was right from the start, that the program needed to be re-evaluated and re-launched once the museum had a better idea on how to make it work (instead of just relying on handouts when things got grim). The long and short of the opinion is “LACMA fell victim to what seems to me as peer pressure and bullying” which is certainly interesting to think over.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A sort of funny bit of strangeness in a story coming from the Washington Post. According to the paper, the Smithsonian set new records for attendance in 2009, with somewhere around 30 million people visiting their various museums. We knew why this was, because we’d been talking about it all last year (the inauguration, the expanded hours, the movie tie-ins), as did Jacqueline Trescott who wrote the Post story and begins it by saying nearly the same. But apparently the Smithsonian organization itself isn’t ready to make any definite rulings on why it was so popular this year:

Understandably satisfied with the year’s outcome, the Smithsonian is offering only educated guesses as to the reasons. “We definitely had increased numbers because of the inauguration and American History reopening for a full year. And then we kept the big three museums on the Mall open until 7:30 p.m. the entire summer,” said Linda St. Thomas, the chief spokeswoman for the Smithsonian, referring to the American History, Natural History and Air and Space museums. “Then there was Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and people would come and ask visitor services, ‘Where is the real thing? I just saw the movie.’ We know it had an effect.”

Um, Ms. St. Thomas, we think maybe you just explained it. Unless there’s some secret study going on in the background that she’s not aloud to talk about? That it was actually due to things like sun spots, or a big influx of doppelgangers?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Just six days into 2010 and things are already looking up for the museum industry. Well, with at least one museum anyway. The Cooper-Hewitt has announced that they’ve been given a $600,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to bring back their popular “Design for the Other 90%” exhibit from 2007 and transform it into an ongoing series that will hope to both foster new ideas for using design to solve problems across the world and raising awareness as to what’s being done. Here’s info on how the grant will be used starting next year:

In fall 2011, Cooper-Hewitt will present the first in a series of exhibitions examining the complex issues arising from the unprecedented rate of population growth projected to take place over the next 20 years, primarily in the southern hemisphere. The exhibition, titled “Critical Mass,” will explore the multidisciplinary, overlapping relationships among urban planning and design, education, social entrepreneurship, climate change, sanitation and water, migration, public health and affordable housing in these underprivileged communities.

“The staff and board of trustees are thrilled to have the recognition and support of The Rockefeller Foundation for this invaluable work,” said Caroline Baumann, acting director of the museum. “This exhibition series demonstrates exactly how design is a dynamic force in transforming and, in many cases, saving lives around the world.”

We’re already wondering how David Stairs will react to this news.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

If you’ve been following museum news at all in 2009 (especially here on UnBeige), you’d probably say the top theme has been that it hasn’t been very stable to work in the museum industry lately. Between layoffs, hiring freezes, and whole museums shutting their doors completely, one would say that the year wasn’t so kindly to museum employees across the board. So it came with some surprise to learn that maybe that assumption wasn’t 100% correct, at least if you take US News & World Report‘s “America’s Best Careers 2010” on its word, with its inclusion of museum curator among its top picks in the Creative and Service category. They predict that there will be thousands of new openings within the next few years, despite the blow suffered this year. We’re still not entirely convinced, but hey, here’s hoping for the best, right? Here’s a bit:

The number of curators is expected to rise by 23 percent, well above the average rate for all careers. Between 2008 and 2018, there will be 2,700 new positions added. However, some museums have struggled in the recession, which puts additional pressure on those who take these jobs. Competition for curatorial positions may be steep. Those who don’t rise to the top may seek related work as museum technicians, archivists, or researchers.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Earlier this year, as banks were failing left and right and damaging museums in the process, the Seattle Art Museum was hurt particularly hard when Washington Mutual, a tenant in their expensive new building, died a quick, painful death. JP Morgan, who took over WaMu’s one or two remaining assets, decided not to stay in the building, leaving the museum desperate to find new renters. Back in April, they were fortunate to find Russell Investments, who wound up moving into a portion of the vacant space, but not enough to cover the entire loss. But now it appears that all will be nearly whole again, as the retailer Nordstrom is preparing to sign a lease to take over a huge section of the building:

The Nordstrom lease will make up about 75 percent of the money the museum lost when Washington Mutual moved out after the bank collapsed. WaMu had been paying the museum $5.8 million a year.

Looks like the roller coaster of 2009 for the Seattle Art Museum, which started in early January and is just (potentially) ending now, wound up turning out okay. They were certainly one of the lucky ones in all of this awfulness this year. Elsewhere, places like the Fresno Metropolitan Museum are finding that things didn’t fare as well for them.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.