In His Own Words: Graham W.J. Beal
The director of Detroit Institute of Arts opens up about the future of his institution
Background
Art has always been important to me and, as a child, I always wanted to be a painter. I turned to art history when I failed to get into any of the universities in England that offered studio classes but was accepted by Manchester University, that didn’t—I can take a hint.
Innovative Directors of American Museums
How is the deep recession affecting the museum world? Many—or, shall we say, most?—museums are downsizing staff, programs, and otherwise cutting costs. Curiously, there is also a high turnover rate among museum directors. How is it possible, then, that some museums are growing, building, expanding, and smartening-up their priceless collections? Several museum directors on our list point out that now is the time when we should turn to the arts to give us solace and pleasure; now is the time when new art infrastructures and programs stimulate economic and cultural growth in their communities.
James Cuno
President and Eloise W. Martin Director, Art Institute of Chicago
Career Highlights
Dr. James Cuno became the President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004, halfway through the museum’s largest expansion project since the construction of its original 1893 building. In May of this year, the city of Chicago celebrated the opening of this Modern Wing and, with it, the completion of the largest fundraising campaign in the history of cultural institutions in the city. Dr. Cuno is an active advocate and scholar on the issue of cultural patrimony and on the role of museums in civic life, and he has written and spoken extensively on these topics, most recently in his authored work, Who Owns Antiquity?, and in his edited collection Whose Culture? For the past several years, he has developed programming with other cultural institutions (such as Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project) to present at the Art Institute year-long themed seasons of exhibitions, lectures, performances, and readings—all with the goal of bringing together cultural production around such central ideas as American identities, cultural exchange, “art beyond borders,” and, this year, the concept of the modern on the occasion of the opening of the Modern Wing.
Vishakha A. Desai
President and CEO, Asia Society
Career Highlights
Dr. Desai is the sixth President and CEO of Asia Society, a leading global organization committed to strengthening partnerships among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. Dr. Desai sets the direction for the Society’s diverse programs relating to culture, commerce, and current affairs—from major U.S.-Asia policy initiatives and national partnerships for global learning to path-breaking art exhibitions and innovative Asian American performances. Guided by Dr. Desai’s leadership since 1990 and welcoming her as president in 2004, Asia Society has expanded the scope and scale of its activities, including opening new offices in India and Korea, inaugurating a new center for U.S.-China relations, and developing new initiatives on the environment, Asian women leaders and partnership among the next generation of exceptional leaders in Asia and the United States. Dr. Desai managed the Society’s $40 million, Bartholomew Voorsanger-designed renovation of its New York City headquarters in 2001 and is overseeing two new multimillion-dollar building projects currently under construction: one in Houston designed by Yoshio Taniguchi and another in Hong Kong designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien.
Prior to joining Asia Society in 1990, Dr. Desai was a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and taught at Columbia University and other institutions.
