Displaying items by tag: Smithsonian

The Smithsonian’s plan to build an inflatable pavilion that will bubble out of the Hirshhorn Museum may be put on hold. Announced by Richard Koshalek, the museum’s director, in 2009, costs for the project have tripled from $5 million to $15.5 million over time. If the project comes to fruition, it won’t be completed until 2014. The structure, designed by the architectural firm Diller Scolfidio + Renfro was originally slated to open at the end of this year.

Smithsonian Undersecretary, Richard Kurin, says half of the funds needed for construction have been raised. However, the project won’t move forward without full funding.

The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden commissioned internationalled renowned artist Barbara Kruger to create a site-specific installation for one of the museum's most-visited public spaces. Opening Aug. 20, "Belief+Doubt"(2012) will fill the lower-level lobby and extend into the newly relocated museum bookstore. Approximately 6,700 square feet of surface--including walls, floor and escalator sides--will be covered in text-printed vinyl, surrounding viewers with lettering up to 12 feet high in a high-contrast color scheme of red, white and black.

"Belief+Doubt" speaks to the social relations and networks of power that define daily life. At a time when the value of certitude is taken for granted, Kruger says she is "interested in introducing doubt." Large swaths of the floor are covered in open-ended questions ("WHO IS BEYOND THE LAW? WHO IS FREE TO CHOOSE? WHO SPEAKS? WHO IS SILENT?"), while the area facing the bookstore explores desire and consumption ("YOU WANT IT. YOU BUY IT. YOU FORGET IT.").   

The Smithsonian Institution will see a $1.8 million cut in its 2011 budget under the spending deal approved by Congress.

Details of the budget released Monday include a $759.6 million appropriation from Congress, down from $761.4 million last year. Most Smithsonian funding remains intact with a small reduction for salaries and expenses.

Last year, Republican leaders in Congress complained the Smithsonian was misusing taxpayer funds with a National Portrait Gallery exhibit that explored gay themes in art history. A video in the exhibit drew complaints from a Catholic group, and the Smithsonian removed the piece.

Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said there were no cuts to major programs in the appropriation from Congress.

For 2011, there is $125 million for construction and revitalization projects. That includes $20 million for planning and design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and $10.6 million for revitalization at the National Museum of Natural History and National Zoo. The Natural History Museum also will receive $16.6 million to replace its mechanical systems and windows.

The National Museum of American History will receive $18 million to convert its parking garage into space for collections storage.

Major construction funding for a new museum devoted to black history is still pending in the 2012 budget.

Protesters carrying two custom-made artworks plan to greet Wayne Clough, the embattled secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with a "funeral procession for freedom of expression" Thursday, when he has a long-planned speaking engagment at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Acting on Nov. 30, the same day Republican leaders criticized the work as anti-Christian and threatened budgetary consequences for the Smithsonian because it briefly showed ants crawling over a crucifix, Clough ordered the removal of David Wojnarowicz’s 1987 video, “A Fire in My Belly,” from a show about gay-themed portraiture at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The federal government provides the bulk of the Smithsonian's $1-billion budget.