Displaying items by tag: council

Members of the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art currently pay $400 a year for exclusive access at the institution. All of that is about to change as museum director, Michael Govan, announced that he will be raising annual fees for members to $1,000 a year. A $250-level museum membership must be purchased separately annually. The announcement has council members as well as art enthusiasts and professionals threatening to leave the institution.

While Govan stands behind his decision, some feel he is jeopardizing the support of smaller donors and will scare off younger people from becoming members. At a meeting for council members on Tuesday, November 27, Govan explained his decision, stating that the changes are part of a larger restructuring plan to simplify the museum’s system and make it more professional. Govan also plans to dismantle each of the ten museum council boards, leaving only a chairperson to assist the department curator and development staff.

The fee increase will go into effect in January for new members and in June for existing ones.

Although major figures in the British art world including Tate director Nicholas Serota, filmmaker Danny Boyle, and artist Jeremy Deller have voiced their opposition, the council of the Borough of Tower Hamlets in London’s East End decided on Wednesday to sell Henry Moore’s Draped Seated Woman. In addition to the big name opponents, more than 1,500 signed a petition against the sale in just a few days.

Completed in 1957, Moore sold the bronze sculpture to the London County Council in 1960 for a fraction of its worth. When the sale was made, Moore and the now defunct London Council agreed that the statue would be on view permanently near a housing project. When the project was leveled in the late 1990s, Draped Seated Woman was moved to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Lutfur Rahman, the mayor of the Tower Hamlets, blamed the government’s severe budget cuts for leaving him with little choice in the matter. The sculpture is expected to bring in about $32 million when it goes to auction in early 2013.