The proposed Diller Scofidio + Renfro addition to the Hirschhorn is an interesting move but some of the rhetoric around it like needing "a dome" to be taken serious in DC is intentionally hilarious (is that a good idea?). Tyler Green has a lot to say about this bulbous addition that reminds me of Olive Oyl's hair. It is interesting and it's temporary but is that really the best move? Promoting dialog through defacto public sculpture is fine but this temporary structure seems noncommittal in relation to it's proclaimed goals. (BTW, I really regret not being able to see this Truitt show at the Hirschhorn.


In a related story last week the NYT's did this story on bigger not necessarily being better for museums. It's true, a museum is judged mostly by the quality of its collection and its program. The trick is to meet the needs of the community in terms of making top quality work outside of private collections and activating discussion around it. Generally Portland institutions like PAM and PNCA are not guilty of grandstanding via their physical space. Instead, expansions at PAM , OCAC and PNCA have been programmatically driven... mostly by the fact that artists and arts minded people continue to find Portland an attractive place to live. That said, Portland is generally still underserved by institutions.