The third floor houses the Contemporary collection from 1960 to present. This is where you get the picturesque views of Millenium Park. Yes, there is a lot of light and architecturally it really is a beautiful space to see work. My only gripe is that some of the rooms are filled with too much work. I like to have space to see each piece by itself or see a couple of pieces and how they play off each other. Viewing four pieces in all four walls plus a Calder mobile above you can feel claustrophobic, and causes all of the pieces to meld into one. This made me consider, however, the $18 admission fee to the museum and the average visitor. I would prefer more thoughtfully installed work, but it may be a more bang for your buck situation for the museum.

The Art Instiute of Chicago’s Modern Wing opens May 16th

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Chicago Art Institute

The fee increase, which takes effect May 23, will increase general admission to $18 from $12, and student and senior admission to $12 from $7. But the museum notes that, unlike now, the new fees will include the costs of exhibitions.

”If they want to be a private institution and do whatever they want, that’s fine,” Burke said. “Once they accept taxpayer dollars, it’s a different story.”

Read more at the Chicago Tribune report.

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New Wing to the Tate Modern

The £100 million-plus expansion is designed to increase the space by up to 60 per cent for more displays and to help relieve overcrowding. The wing is scheduled to be completed by 2011

Tate from across the river before new construction

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Good thing the show didn’t open on May 2nd or it could have been worse.

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We all saw this coming: Jeremy Strick to resign…or not?
“One member of the museum’s Board of Trustees, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Strick had resigned during a ‘tearful’ scene at a meeting of the board. A MOCA spokeswoman, however, denied that…”

It sounds as if the board might accept Eli Broads offer.
“The agreement, which the board voted on at a long meeting Thursday afternoon, is not final and is subject to numerous conditions, including Mr. Broad’s examinations of the museum’s financial accounts, according to the people, two of whom attended the meeting on Thursday.”

Los Angeles mayor Villaraigosa makes a plea to MOCA
“His letter to board co-chairmen Tom Unterman and David Johnson asks that the board take time to thoroughly review its options and set aside 30 days to allow the public an opportunity to provide input before a decision is made.”

Eli Broad asks LACMA to show him the money.
“The question, he said, is which bailout carries a stronger guarantee of secure funding for MOCA’s endowment and exhibitions: his $30-million offer or LACMA’s merger proposal, to which no price tag has been publicly attached.”

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Last week I reblogged that LA’s MOCA was having some serious financial problems. Here is a brief recap of last week’s events.

Following the report of MOCA’s woes Jeremy Strick sent an e -letter in response to the report. In the LA Time’s post a reader points out that MOCA’s 990 statement posted to Guidstar.com shows that Strick not only makes about half a million a year but also that the institution has loaned him about another half mill for a house. The comments are totally worth checking out.

On the 20th art critic Christopher Knight asked the two questions: “Are you freakin’ kidding me? What on Earth do you think you’re doing?”

Then it looked as if MOCA had been looking to LACMA for a bailout.

On Friday Eli Broad, who was a founding chairman for MOCA, had announced that he would be willing to help them out with a $30 million donation if other people would also help.

There have been a lot of good discussions going on Culture Monster’s (not to be confused with C-Monster) posts this past week. Many readers have been blaming the museum’s lack of publicity and what some have claimed to be too high of salaries for it’s directors. In the past 5 years or so MOCA has had some really big shows. They had the Warhol Retrospective in 2002, the Basquiat retro in 2005, Masters of American Comics in 2005, WACK in 2007, and Murakami’s huge show this past summer, all of which were packed when I saw them (I am from LA). Maybe they do not have as many visitors as the Art Institute but I’m sure their attendance rate is not hurting so bad, maybe I’m wrong. It just seems that all of this comes down to horrible financial planning and poor fundraising. If Broad does help them out, what is MOCA going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

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