Opinion: In today’s pages: MOCA, Blackwater, and more
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On today’s Op-Ed page, Barbara Isenberg remembers the civic energy that created Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art and calls for MOCA leaders to ‘rekindle the passion, populism and pioneer spirit’ that marked the museum’s creation:
The time is right again, although for very different reasons. Internationally recognized art schools in Los Angeles today produce artists who no longer have to go elsewhere to launch their careers. Dealers have multiplied, and art leadership has flourished. MOCA Director Jeremy Strick wasn’t the only museum executive to head west recently -- consider LACMA Director Michael Govan, Hammer Museum Director Ann Philbin, Getty Museum Director Michael Brand and Getty Trust President James Wood, among others. All surely believed that the cultural passion that launched an institution like MOCA was still here for the tapping.
Heather Dundas writes about taking her kids to MOCA and the challenge of instilling in them an appreciation of contemporary art:
I wanted my children to experience that connection between art and life, so I continued to take them to exhibitions. We saw the enormous photographs of Thomas Struth in 2002. (Teo’s reaction: ‘So what?’ Adena’s: ‘Scary families.’) In 2004, we went to see Doug Wheeler’s unearthly bright neon wall, which we all loved, and in 2005, we saw the monumental paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat, which gave me a chance to tell the kids what it was like to live in New York City in 1980. Going to the museum had become a habit with us, and Teo had begun to forget that he hated art.
Also in Op-Ed, columnist Gregory Rodriguez tries to look at the bright side of recession.
On the Editorial Page, the board applauds the Barack Obama’s ‘course correction’ on the environment, citing his reported choices for energy secretary, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The board also examines the status-of-forces agreement between Iraq and the United States and calls on Congress to plug any remaining ‘Blackwater hole’ that leaves the prosecution of U.S. contractors in foreign countries a gray area.
The board also sees an unhappy reversion to the old days in Orange County, where county officials are dealing with their red ink by eliminating social service workers.
The county must set its funding priorities, and move dollars around, based on the need for certain services. Demand for social workers and public assistance is increasing as residents lose jobs and housing values plummet; people who are poor enough to qualify for welfare are in no position to wait long periods for help.