Corc Report

The Corcoran Gallery of Art

There's not much new news in Jacqueline Trescott's WaPo profile on the Corcoran's new helmsman, Paul Greenhalgh, the former president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Dispatches from the front lines at New York & 17th have been few and far between—but no news doesn't always mean no news.

Recently, Greenhalgh hired Sarah Newman, formerly an intern with the National Gallery of Art, to fill the vacancy left by Stacey Schmidt. Schmidt, the associate curator of contemporary art, left the museum in March—just days after Greenhalgh made like Sherman for the Atlantic through the Corc's curatorial department.

But as of now, the status of Newman's position is "transitional." She will serve as assistant curator on a temporary basis through the end of August (at least). Newman isn't listed on the curators site (yet?).

Something else missing from the Corcoran's Web site: a future exhibition schedule. The "Joan of Arc" show is the only exhibition listed, running from November 2006 for some unknown duration. Someone recently pointed out to me that the High Museum's Morris Louis retrospective heads to San Diego from January to May 2007; this would be a perfect show for the Corc to pick up.

There is one exhibition we all know the Corcoran is planning to run: the 49th Corcoran Biennial. There's no news about that one, either—and by this time, 2004, the museum was spamming everyone with an inbox with news about Corc 48. Why the radio silence? The Corcoran has (tentatively) scheduled its next biennial for late 2008. The museum is skipping a year.

Now, obviously, the gallery is rebuilding its programming from the ground up, taking its time to develop an overall strategy. But the Biennial is Jonathan Binstock's bag, and how much tweaking does his operation need? Given that Greenhalgh has signaled his hopes to overhaul the Corc has a sort of experimental "think tank," the Corc 49th could be a critical division in that effort.

Consider also that the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development allocated $8 million in its fiscal year 2007 budget for improvements to the Corcoran's roof, with another $10 million proposed for fiscal year 2008. This falls short of the $40 million tax increment finance deal that DC promised the museum, contingent on the (failed) Gehry deal. Nevertheless, the Corc is now making up that shortfall.

The debriefing, in brief: temp labor, monies for repairs, no exhibition schedule. Is the Corc pulling out of 2007?

UPDATE: Greenhalgh's bringing "Modernism" from his former V&A digs to the Corc early in 2007. And I forgot to mention that Margaret Bergen has left the Corc, though her voicemail's still active. Rebecca Gentry's directing communications now.