Artswatch : Rubenstein Leaves KenCen; NGA’s Cornell Trove; Helen Hayes Nominations
By • February 14, 2024 0 316
Rubenstein to Conclude Kennedy Center Chairmanship
Chair of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees since 2010, philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group global investment firm, will step down next January to lead the newly formed Kennedy Center Foundation. The top individual contributor in the center’s history, donating more than $100 million — including $50 million of the Reach’s $250-million construction cost — he oversaw the 2014 hiring of Deborah F. Rutter as president. A Baltimore native, Rubenstein, 74, heads the group acquiring the Orioles (pending approval by the Major League Baseball owners).
Lilly Gives $10 Million to American Latino Museum
The National Museum of the American Latino — with the American Women’s History Museum, one of two new Smithsonian units approved in 2020 — received $10 million from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment last fall. While significant, the amount is a fraction of what’s needed over the next decade. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016, cost more than $500 million, a 50/50 public/private split, as legislatively specified. The two museum sites chosen by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, opposite the NMAAHC and near the Tidal Basin, await a nod from Congress.
National Gallery Gets Trove of Joseph Cornell Art
With the announcement last month of a major gift of works by Joseph Cornell (1903–72) to the National Gallery — complementing the NGA’s existing Cornell holdings and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Cornell archive — Washington, D.C., became the hub of Cornell appreciation and scholarship. Leading Cornell collectors Robert and Aimee Lehrman donated 20 box constructions and seven collages, examples of which are now on view. A reclusive Queens resident, Cornell is best known for the surrealistic shadow boxes he filled with clippings, maps, found objects and, in some cases, stuffed birds.
“A Parrot for Juan Gris,” winter 1953-54. Joseph Cornell. Courtesy NGA.
No Full-Time Theater Critic at Washington Post?
Peter Marks, the Washington Post’s chief theater critic since 2002, took a voluntary buyout, exiting stage left on Dec. 31. Noting that the Post is now without a full-time theater reviewer — and that the New York Times has but one (Jesse Green) — Playbill referred to “a troubling downward trend.” No announcement has been made regarding a full-time replacement for Marks; in the meantime, Thomas Floyd (“Writer-editor covering arts and sports”) and freelancers Rhoda Feng, Trey Graham, Chris Klimek and Celia Wren have been dropping into aisle seats. The Post laid off dance critic Sarah Kaufman in 2022.
2024 Helen Hayes Awards: May 20 at the Anthem
Theatre Washington will present the 38th annual Helen Hayes Awards on May 20 at the Anthem. At the nomination announcements last month, GALA co-founder Rebecca Medrano received the Victor Shargai Leadership Award. On May 20, the Helen Hayes Tribute Award will go to former Washington Post critic Peter Marks. Nominees for outstanding production of a play in the “Hayes” (Equity) division: Arena’s “Angels in America, Part One”; Studio’s “Fat Ham”; Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Here There Are Blueberries”; Signature’s “King of the Yees”; and Woolly Mammoth’s “My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion.”
Folger Library’s Grand Reopening: June 21
Closed since March of 2020 for an $80.5-million renovation and expansion, the Folger Shakespeare Library has set Friday, June 21 — a full moon — as the date of its grand reopening, postponed from last November. Timed-entry passes for that weekend will be available in May. The centerpiece of the revamped library, designed by Kieran Timberlake with gardens by Olin, is the Adams Pavilion: over 12,000 square feet of public space, including a permanent display of the Folger’s 82 copies of the 1623 First Folio. After the reopening, Dr. Michael Witmore will transition away from his 13-year directorship.
Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio.
