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The LA Review of Books has a long article investigating the shady backroom deals involved in the planned expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The article highlights the questionable practice of using public money to support the expansion of art institutions that are already flush with cash. Does the public truly reap the benefits of this kind of investment?
It’s smelling like Denmark over at LACMA these days. Not a month after its glamorous 50th anniversary gala on April 18, attended by le tout Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica jointly reported on Sony emails hacked by the North Koreans and posted online by WikiLeaks. The scoop: Michael Lynton, a LACMA board member and Sony’s CEO, set into motion a $25,000 contribution to a PAC founded by County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas before a scheduled County Board vote to approve LACMA’s proposal for its proposed new $600 million museum structure, to be designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Did the Sony contribution sway the good supervisor, whose crucial vote precipitated the board of supervisors’ unanimous yes on a project that could climb up to a billion dollars? Was there a quo pro quid?
Officers at Sony and at the supervisor’s office, cited in the same articles, denied any tie between the money and the vote, denials that were confirmed by LACMA director Michael Govan in a recent email, saying flatly: “There is absolutely nothing to the email leak question.”
But the timing and content of the emails are at least fragrant if not circumstantially incriminating, and in any case carry the lingering appearance of impropriety. Did a paltry but strategically placed $25,000 suffice to influence the Supervisors to commit the county and public funding to a hugely expensive and controversial project beset with troubling questions?
Image of LACMA via movdata.net.