Museum Confidential

Philbrook recently kicked off a pen pal program for the museum cats. A bit of connection in the COVID-19 era. If you write them a letter, they write back. That's the deal. The program took off quickly and mail began arriving daily from around the country and around the world. Some from kids, some from adults. Some silly, some quite moving. Some from other cats (kind of). But one recent arrival stood out. The return address on the envelope was a prison. The letter inside was unforgettable. 

In the age of Rotten Tomatoes, likes, and shares, we are all critics. But a rarified few have transcended the trends and held onto a corner of the zeitgeist. No American critic has been more successful at this than New York Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, Jerry Saltz. In his new book HOW TO BE AN ARTIST, he distills his life into a mission statement of sorts. On this episode we chat with Jerry from his quarantine hideout where he's staying safe with his wife, Roberta Smith.

A special episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. We chat with OKC Mayor David Holt and Kari Watkins, longtime Executive Director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Can't-miss conversations on remembrance, resilience, and observing one tragedy while living through another (Covid-19). 

It's not breaking news to say that women artists have often been ignored or even purposefully excluded from the canon. As we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, we sit down with acclaimed author Bridget Quinn to discuss her book, "Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order)."

In a special episode we air an important conversation hosted by museum engagement company, Cuseum. More than 3,000 museum professionals around the globe tuned in to “How to Keep Your Audience Engaged, Entertained, and Inspired in the Age of Coronavirus.” Featuring Philbrook Director Scott Stulen and Seema Rao, Deputy Director and Chief Experience Officer at Akron Art Museum. Moderated by Cuseum’s Brendan Ciecko.

Art museums account for less than 5% of all American museums. More than half fall into the history category. Science and technology museums barely make up 1% of the overall industry yet host millions of annual visitors. On this episode we travel to Dallas’ Perot Museum of Nature and Science to get a look at how these museums work from the inside out.

2020 marks the 150th anniversary of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Christine Coulson worked at The Met for a quarter of a century in a variety of roles. She left a couple of years ago to write full time and the result is her acclaimed debut novel, “Metropolitan Stories.” On this episode we chat with Christine about the real stories behind her fictional world.

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution, giving American women the right to vote. Last fall, the Baltimore Museum of Art announced a bold initiative. Only 4% of the museum’s 95,000 artworks were created by women. Throughout this year, every artwork the museum purchases will have been created by a woman artist. On this episode we travel to Baltimore for a chat with BMA Director, Christopher Bedford.

There’s a bit of a trend happening in the museum world. Museums are unionizing. And while this trend is somewhat isolated to New York and California, it’s a development that can’t be ignored. One of the museums to recently organize is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. On this episode we chat with Andres Puerta, Director of Special Projects for IUOE Local 30.

In a special report we speak with New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small about their bombshell investigation into 31-year-old (now former) Erie Art Museum Director, Joshua Helmer and his related sexual harassment scandals at that institution and his previous employer, the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

One name keeps popping up as one of the most important young voices on the future of museums. That name is Colleen Dilenschneider. Through short videos, presentations, and data driven articles on her website, Colleen consistently boils down industry studies and presents them in a digestible and reliably optimistic way. Think Malcolm Gladwell as a giddy millennial. On this episode we chat with Colleen about that future she’s always taking about.

2019 marks the 60th anniversary (Oct. 1959) of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim was the final and perhaps crowning achievement of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 2019 is also the 60th anniversary of Wright’s death (Apr. 1959). All these years later, he remains a complicated figure. On this episode we sit down with acclaimed author and longtime Washington Post reporter Paul Hendrickson to chat about his polarizing and kaleidoscopic new bio of Wright, “Plagued By Fire.”

Museums acquire. They keep. They care for their objects. And it always causes a bit of a stir when a Museum decides to sell something from its collection. In May of 2018, at Christie’s in Hong Kong, an 18th century Chinese vase owned by Philbrook Museum of Art sold for $14.5 million. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Director Scott Stulen to learn the real story behind this potentially controversial decision.

The name "Edward Hopper" is synonymous with loneliness. Hotels and motels play a central role in Hopper’s art. "Edward Hopper and The American Hotel" recently opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. It is the first in-depth look at this side of Hopper’s work and features a recreated room based on Hopper’s “Western Motel.” The space serves as a fully functional hotel room. Every night sold out before opening day. On this episode we chat with the show’s curator, Dr. Leo Mazow.

Sometimes a place becomes a museum by accident. This takes the perfect mix of history, people, luck, notoriety, and course, art. One of the best examples of this rare occurrence is the legendary Chelsea Hotel in New York City. Acclaimed author Fiona Davis writes novels about famous New York buildings. She recently wrote about the Chelsea Hotel, so we checked in with her to talk all about it.