Yesterday Robert Storr wrote for HuffPost Arts about "the ongoing fiasco" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA, but we urge you to not give up on the institution just yet. MOCA Mobilization, a group founded during MOCA's financial crisis in 2008, has recently created an online petition to save the world-class museum from becoming a corporate shill on Change.org.
Founders and LA-based artists Diane Thater and Cindy Bernard are asking the museum to hire a new chief curator rather than have the current director, Jeffrey Deitch, pick up the slack. The petition calls for experienced and respected curators that are not burdened by fundraising and other duties of a museum director. However, it does not call for any drastic measures, such as asking staff members to resign. Cindy Bernard told the LA Times she was not blaming a specific person or even board as a whole for MOCA's troubles: "It's a complex set of issues that has evolved over years and has involved many people."
MOCA Mobilization urges the appointment of four new artist trustees after the recent departure of John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger and Ed Ruscha. It also seeks to install an advisory panel to ensure transparency within the Board of Trustees and museum as a whole. To ensure the Board of Trustees is acting in accordance with their intended role in MOCA's operations the petition asks they educate themselves in non-profit governance. See the petition in full here.
Image by Susan Silton.
In the meantime, check out some of the best quotes from the MOCA media storm thus far, from insightful to just scathing. See the best snippets from art critics, board members and Deitch himself below and let us know what you think MOCA's future holds.