Thursday, December 18th, 2008
The Big Takeover
Image: © Original Artist / cartoonstock.com
Seasoned art and culture critic, Lee Rosenbaum, has written some interesting commentary over the last several days regarding Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s proposed “merger” with the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. As previously reported, MOCA is at the brink of financial collapse and is in dire need of rapid injection of funds.
In a press release issued Dec. 16, LACMA stated the “goal of this plan would be to preserve the independence and integrity of both institutions while combining their operations and infrastructure,” including a “merger of Board leadership,” and the ability for MOCA’s permanent collection to be housed and exhibited in LACMA’s several museum spaces.
Rosenbaum calls the plan an attempted takeover, and a move by LACMA and its Director/CEO, Michael Govan, to take advantage of a struggling MOCA in its time of need, arguing that “instead of being a perpetrator of pernicious takeover mischief, Michael Govan should have been a collaborative colleague, offering to provide space and support for MOCA’s insufficiently exhibited, superb permanent collection, without insisting on assuming control over it (as would happen under a single-board, single-director merger).”
Since LACMA’s announcement this past Tuesday, several voices have spoken out against the deal, or offered alternative plans. Grassroots organization MOCA Mobilization has delivered a petition of 3,200 signatures to MOCA’s board, stating “we support an independent and autonomous MOCA. We condemn any plan now or in the future to merge MOCA with any other institution.” Furthermore, in an effort to stall the merger, a motion was filed by the Los Angeles County City Council, petitioning the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to give MOCA $2.8 million in rent money. In return, the museum would agree to accept $30 million in financial assistance offered by philanthropist Eli Broad.
Read more at: CultureGrrl
December 25th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
the art collectors » MOCA Accepts Broad’s $30 Million Bailout said:
[…] County Museum of Art announced its offer to partner with the struggling museum – a manoeuvre criticized by some as more of a bid for takeover than philanthropy. That agreement would have dissolved MOCA’s independent board and put […]