Analysis LACMA’s $750 Million Renovation Was Once Hailed as a Powerful Vision of What a 21st-Century Museum Could Be. Now, It’s a Lightning Rod How the debate over LACMA's expansion became one about what a museum should be, who decides—and who should pay for it. By Catherine Wagley, Apr 1, 2020
Politics Museum Unions Aren’t Just Demanding Higher Pay. They’re Also Fundamentally Questioning the Way Their Institutions Work "We are asking for a change on all fronts," one organizer at MOCA Los Angeles says. By Catherine Wagley, Mar 2, 2020
People ‘I Could Integrate Both Worlds’: How Black Lives Matter Cofounder Patrisse Cullors Uses Dance to Bridge Art and Activism At Frieze Los Angeles last week, the artist had to cater to new audiences. By Catherine Wagley, Feb 19, 2020
Politics Why the New Museum’s Bronx ‘Ideas’ Festival Was Such a Fiasco—and What It Teaches Museums About Their Role in Gentrification The collapse raises the question of whether it is possible for institutions to engage with communities in a "non-extractive" way. By Catherine Wagley, Nov 27, 2019
Analysis Museum Workers Across the Country Are Unionizing. Here’s What’s Driving a Movement That’s Been Years in the Making The reasons tell us a lot about the state of the arts today. By Catherine Wagley, Nov 25, 2019
Reviews Julie Mehretu’s New LACMA Survey Reveals an Artist at the Peak of Her Power—But Also One Unusually Eager to Share the Credit The artist remaps strategies of power both on and off the canvas. By Catherine Wagley, Nov 11, 2019
Politics Desert X Organizers Have Ignited a Firestorm of Controversy by Launching a Saudi Arabian Edition of the Biennial Three board members have left the organization following the move. By Catherine Wagley, Oct 9, 2019
Politics Why the Layoff of a Curator at a Little-Known Art Space Was the ‘Last Straw’ for San Francisco’s Frustrated Art Community 500 Capp Street has been a beloved part of San Francisco's art scene since 2016. But its audience feels betrayed by its new direction. By Catherine Wagley, Jul 17, 2019
Analysis This California Museum Had Big Ambitions—and Then Shuttered. Here’s What It Teaches Us About the Perils of Private Museums The Main was founded by a local developer to serve as a beacon of creativity in downtown Los Angeles. By Catherine Wagley, Jun 5, 2019
Politics LACMA Sold LA on Its Shrunken Zumthor Building by Promising to Add Satellites Around the City. Now That May Create Even More Problems LACMA's building plan has become a lighting rod for the debate over what a 21st-century museum should be. By Catherine Wagley, Apr 25, 2019
Art World A Unanimous Vote—and a Little Help From Brad Pitt—Pushes LACMA’s Controversial Building Plans Forward Diane Keaton showed up at the board meeting to voice her support too. By Catherine Wagley, Apr 10, 2019
Art World Here Are 9 Spaces You Need to Visit to Understand LA’s Vibrant Art Scene Here are the spots not to miss. By Catherine Wagley, Feb 12, 2019
Politics How One Woman’s Punishment for Putting Up a Mural Has Exposed a Deep, Bitter Divide in the Los Angeles Art Community The director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, Rosie Lee Hooks, was suspended—and then reinstated. The saga reveals a lot about tensions in LA. By Catherine Wagley, Oct 18, 2018
Exhibitions How MoMA Rewrote the Rules to Collect Choreographer Simone Forti’s Convention-Defying ‘Dance Constructions’ On view in the new show about Judson Dance Theater, Forti's works required special vision to acquire—and have become the media arts department's most requested work. By Catherine Wagley, Sep 19, 2018
Reviews The Hammer’s ‘Made in LA’ Avoids Common Biennial Pitfalls to Paint a Compelling Portrait of a Vibrant Art Community The biennial avoids both festivalism and inside baseball, offering up art that looks beyond itself to the surrounding community and wider world. By Catherine Wagley, Jun 11, 2018
