I don’t know how this happened - this website has mutated to a “Marshall Writes about Art” project, which, frankly, I’m enjoying.  Someone even sent me a press release last week as if I’m an art-news blog/exhibition listing.

Anyways…

Olga Garay New Head of the DCA in Los Angeles

Olga Garay has been named the new head of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.  I saw this on LA Observed this morning, and I don’t really have an opinion on it. It is proof that the Villaraigosa decided not to make the interim head permanent, which was the word on the street a while back.

There’s nothing in her background that I’ve read that tells me anything substantive about her likelihood to save the ailing department.  A little light googling turns up little, the LA Observed story itself is  the 5th hit on the search, making her appear, at first look, to be a decidedly low profile choice to head the Department of Cultural Affairs for one of the worlds’s biggest cities. Time will tell…

The LA Times also has a blurb about it, also sourced from the press release - no real details yet.

Meditating on Barry Munitz’ Legacy
I think the Getty  is currently displaying some of the best shows since it opened. The decision to support more contemporary projects seems to really be paying off. Most of these projects were cooked up and supported during the Munitz era. Does that mean that Munitz deserves some credit for his managerial skills? Or does that mean that those projects came to be despite his management? I don’t know enough about the hierarchy at the Getty to really have any kind of perspective on his influence, so maybe I’m just spinning my wheels on this one.  Another thought I had was that the Marion True scandal occupied so much time at the top that it created a vacuum of opportunity that the curatorial staff of the Getty took great advantage of. Who knows?

Yeah, he’s the devil, an incompetent, cronyistic boob.   If my study of history has born any fruit, it’s that many of man’s achievements are more the result of accident than intent - could that be the case here?