Well, this might explain some things!
Jan. 4th, 2008 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
isabelladangeloI have ranted and raved about the National American Indian Museum time and time again. The food there is to die for, the exhibits will cause you to croak. I'll happily give some lovely little antidotes from my experiances at the museum if you would like, but first:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080104/D8TV78P80.html
Portrait Raises Questions About Spending
Email this Story
Jan 4, 12:58 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The recently retired director of the National Museum of the American Indian spent $48,500 in museum funds to commission a portrait of himself and selected a non-Indian artist to create it, a newspaper reported Friday.
The portrait of W. Richard West Jr. by New York painter Burton Silverman hangs in a fourth-floor lounge of the museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution and is dedicated to the arts and culture of American Indians.
West, who has come under fire recently for travel expenditures, authorized the payment for the 2005 portrait after consulting with some members of the museum's advisory board, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas told The Washington Post. No other museum directors have commissioned portraits of themselves, she said.
Silverman, of Polish descent, was chosen after the Smithsonian "couldn't find a Native artist who did formal portrait sittings like this," St. Thomas said. According to Silverman's Web site, the portrait is in oil and is 48 inches high by 34 inches wide.
West, a 64-year-old Harvard-trained historian and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, was hired in 1989 to oversee planning for the flagship museum, which opened in 2004. He retired last month.
His expenses have come under scrutiny following recent reports that he spent more than $250,000 in the past four years on first-class transportation and luxury hotels.
West could not be reached for comment about the portrait, the newspaper said. He has said all his trips were authorized.
Two U.S. senators have called for independent investigations of West's spending.
"It appears that Mr. West was determined to meet Mr. Small's champagne lifestyle, glass for glass," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said in a letter to the board Thursday.
Former Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small resigned in March after questions were raised about his compensation and spending.
Kevin Gover, who took over as the Indian Museum's director last month, defended West's costs, saying he "would not presume to question his judgment."
My comments:
Couldn't find an American Indian? Heck, let's just try for an American that does portraiture. Why not hold a contest? Have anyone who can provide proof of native blood send in a picture of their original artwork and choose from amongst those? There are a billion different ways to have handled this (including not getting a portrait done. Why not just get a big ole photo. It's cheap and looks fine). Spending this type of money on something that has *nothing* to do with the museum is ridiculous.
I really hope the next guy will clean up the museum. I'll check it out in a few weeks...I'm not holding out any hopes...
(If anyone is curious, yes, I do have native blood. My Mom and I have been trying to document it for the past couple of years.)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080104/D8TV78P80.html
Portrait Raises Questions About Spending
Email this Story
Jan 4, 12:58 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The recently retired director of the National Museum of the American Indian spent $48,500 in museum funds to commission a portrait of himself and selected a non-Indian artist to create it, a newspaper reported Friday.
The portrait of W. Richard West Jr. by New York painter Burton Silverman hangs in a fourth-floor lounge of the museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution and is dedicated to the arts and culture of American Indians.
West, who has come under fire recently for travel expenditures, authorized the payment for the 2005 portrait after consulting with some members of the museum's advisory board, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas told The Washington Post. No other museum directors have commissioned portraits of themselves, she said.
Silverman, of Polish descent, was chosen after the Smithsonian "couldn't find a Native artist who did formal portrait sittings like this," St. Thomas said. According to Silverman's Web site, the portrait is in oil and is 48 inches high by 34 inches wide.
West, a 64-year-old Harvard-trained historian and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, was hired in 1989 to oversee planning for the flagship museum, which opened in 2004. He retired last month.
His expenses have come under scrutiny following recent reports that he spent more than $250,000 in the past four years on first-class transportation and luxury hotels.
West could not be reached for comment about the portrait, the newspaper said. He has said all his trips were authorized.
Two U.S. senators have called for independent investigations of West's spending.
"It appears that Mr. West was determined to meet Mr. Small's champagne lifestyle, glass for glass," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said in a letter to the board Thursday.
Former Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small resigned in March after questions were raised about his compensation and spending.
Kevin Gover, who took over as the Indian Museum's director last month, defended West's costs, saying he "would not presume to question his judgment."
My comments:
Couldn't find an American Indian? Heck, let's just try for an American that does portraiture. Why not hold a contest? Have anyone who can provide proof of native blood send in a picture of their original artwork and choose from amongst those? There are a billion different ways to have handled this (including not getting a portrait done. Why not just get a big ole photo. It's cheap and looks fine). Spending this type of money on something that has *nothing* to do with the museum is ridiculous.
I really hope the next guy will clean up the museum. I'll check it out in a few weeks...I'm not holding out any hopes...
(If anyone is curious, yes, I do have native blood. My Mom and I have been trying to document it for the past couple of years.)
