Photo by Jeff Chin
The Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art + Design announced a few major changes today that will result in the 143-year-old museum and art school taking on some new partners as it seeks to trim its expenses.
Starting next year, the Corcoran will host modern and contemporary exhibits from the National Gallery of Art. The NGA’s East Wing is scheduled to undergo three years of renovations beginning next year. An operational partnership between the NGA and another museum had been widely rumored, though last month The New York Times reported that Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art was in the running for such an arrangement.
The NGA has loaned works to the Corcoran in the past, but the deal announced today forges what NGA executive director Earl A. Powell III calls in a press release, “a new development in our long relationship.”
Perhaps more of a shift for the Corcoran is the “memorandum of understanding” its college entered into with the University of Maryland. Washington City Paper reported earlier Wednesday that the Corcoran and Maryland were in talks, but the memorandum released this afternoon just offers broad outlines for what a full partnership between the two institutions might look like.
Both institutions will augment the depth and breadth of their respective artistic, educational, and scholarly programs by shared resources and exchanges. Collaborative possibilities include, for example: new courses and joint degrees for students; affiliate and joint appointments for faculty and staff; innovation studios in product design and digital arts with interdisciplinary teams of creative artists, design engineers, computer scientists, and business entrepreneurs; online and “blended” courses in fine arts, art history, and design to meet local, national, and global demand.
The memo is signed by U.Md. President Wallace D. Loh and Corcoran board chairman Harry Hopper.
Overseeing these changes will be Peggy Loar, who the Corcoran named today as “consulting director.” Loar was most recently the director and adviser of National Museum of Qatar. She is also the founding director of the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami. The Corcoran’s president and director, Fred Bollerer, is described in the museum’s press release as “assisting the transition” as Loar settles in.
Also in the Corcoran’s release was a reassurance over rumors last year that it was considering selling its 116-year-old Beaux Arts building and moving, possibly out of the District. “The Board has reaffirmed that the Corcoran will remain in its landmark building on 17th Street,” the announcement reads.
