New Museum Construction

First up, the proposed Crystal Bridges museum/culture center is to be built in Bentonville, Arkansas. Bentonville, Arkansas is the logical location in which to build an art museum for anyone whose last name was or is "Walton." Alice Walton, Sam's daughter, has been quietly amassing a world-class collection of art and will now build the facility to house it. I, for one, am thrilled to see some of the profit off those van-loads of toilet paper we've purchased at low, low Wal-Mart prices being put to good use in the name of Culture.

Secondly, the Art Institute of Chicago has scaled back their proposed Renzo Piano addition a smidge. It still will include something called a "flying carpet" canopy - a freestanding, 216' x 216' "floating" structure that begs the question: Have we considered that whole 'Windy City' business? (Oh, surely we must have ... because the winds off Lake Michigan are phenomenal, and nearly 47,000 feet of aluminum literally "flying" through the air would probably cost somebody an American Gothic's worth of lawsuits.)