\u201cThe new LACMA is sleek, splotchy, powerful, jarring, monotonous, appealing and absurd,\u201d<\/a> June 27). His articles are filled with more grievances than a Donald Trump stump speech.<\/p>\nKnight states that the building\u2019s cost is pegged at $720 million but sources have told him \u201cthe entire project cost is closer to $835 million.\u201d This, I don\u2019t doubt. Ever attempt a kitchen remodel? Try building an elevated 347,500-square-foot structure in an earthquake zone, amid ancient tar pits filled with treasured fossils, during a pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe limitless concrete is monotonous,\u201d Knight complains of the new galleries. Aren\u2019t white walls also monotonous until you hang some art on them? He worries the museum has been undergoing a \u201clengthy transformation from a civic art institution into a tourist destination.\u201d Can\u2019t it be both?<\/p>\n
I understand that Knight doesn\u2019t like the \u201cnon-hierarchical\u201d design of the single-story museum. We can all agree to disagree on such things. I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary to vilify LACMA in every article he writes to make a point.<\/p>\n
Finally, Knight writes, \u201cWill the Geffen Galleries be successful? My crystal ball is broken, but I see no reason why it won\u2019t be a popular attraction.\u201d I don\u2019t have a crystal ball either, but I can tell you LACMA has been a popular destination for years and no doubt will continue to be so.<\/p>\n
Carlos Valdez Lozano, Los Angeles
This writer is a former Los Angeles Times Metro reporter and editor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To the editor: Let us now praise Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1037,347,1582,276,392,18516,34096,7129,10197,13983,2961,11641,3457,224,2444,5337,34095,34093,11365,34094],"class_list":{"0":"post-43634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-culture","13":"tag-david-geffen-galleries","14":"tag-difficult-year","15":"tag-editor","16":"tag-knight","17":"tag-l-a-times","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-lacma","20":"tag-leadership","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-los-angeles-times","23":"tag-losangeles","24":"tag-michael-govan","25":"tag-more-credit","26":"tag-museum","27":"tag-transformation"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114806918174489520","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}