I missed this from Aug 17. Maybe others had too. Hoping Gary Mottola is not always as difficult and as quick to take umbrage as he appears in this write up: Robin Parness Lipson Works for New Jersey Art Museum - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/9xrqRL http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/arts/design/18dream.html?_r=1 Excerpts: August 17, 2010 A Dream of a Contemporary Art Museum on the Jersey Shore ASBURY PARK, N.J. …. What she sees are the bustling new restaurants and gift shops and the energy of a bright future being shaped. And as part of that future, she sees her baby, her dream, the New Jersey Museum of Contemporary Art: a glittering monument to the idea that New Jersey is not just the home of Snooki and the Situation, or feuding housewives, or the Bada Bing Club, but a place where cultured, philanthropic people can build something that makes a difference.
Ms. Lipson has not yet raised any of the $5 million it is projected that she will need to open the museum, nor does she have a lock on the boardwalk real estate she covets, or a team of slick consultants armed with surveys and statistics. But she is a bona fide expert at using charm, guileless candor, boundless energy and terms of endearment to bring home what she wants: a new museum on the Jersey Shore devoted to emerging artists. … … But she does have the support of wealthy friends with a major art collection: Michael and Susan Hort. The Horts, who appear annually on ARTnews’s list of the world’s 200 top collectors, host a popular art party, a brunch at their TriBeCa loft, during the annual Armory Show. Ms. Lipson also has a dozen young artists, curators, event planners and others who are part of her dream. These volunteers have done everything from build a Web site, njmoca.org, to plan an inaugural exhibition and gala on Oct. 23. … The building of her dreams is a 1920s power plant, designed by Warren & Wetmore, whose work includes Grand Central Terminal. Abandoned for 30 years, the plant is owned by the development company Madison Marquette, which owns much of the property on the boardwalk here. Ms. Lipson tried to get a meeting with Madison Marquette’s president, Gary Mottola, for weeks to make her pitch. She finally got it on a recent morning in a sunbaked conference room. Ms. Lipson was in a black skirt and sleeveless top and big sunglasses, Mr. Mottola in a Stone PonyT-shirt; a reporter attended. Ms. Lipson noted that while New Jersey had many regional museums, it had nothing that drew international tourism. “Except Madam Marie,” Mr. Mottola interjected, referring to the stand of a former boardwalk fortuneteller made famous by Bruce Springsteen in his “ 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).” Ms. Lipson said the museum would be an economic catalyst in the way that Mass MoCA, a contemporary art museum that opened in 1999, has been in North Adams, Mass. “It was blighted; there was a high crime rate,” she said. Mr. Mottola appeared to take umbrage. Asbury Park, he said, was “the biggest music destination in the world.” The D.J. Tiësto had recently played at the Convention Center. And celebrity glamour? What about the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which has Jack Nicholson’s second-grade report card and Susan Sarandon’s cheerleading jacket in its temporary space on the boardwalk? He might be interested in having an art museum, he said, but “not in the context of ‘We’re blighted, this is going to make us unblighted,’ ” he said. “We’re already way past that.” Reflecting later, Ms. Lipson said it had been a learning experience. “I didn’t mean to denigrate what he’s done with the music; that was my mistake,” she said. But she didn’t feel defeated. She was able to interest Mr. Mottola in hosting the inaugural gala in another one of the company’s buildings, the Paramount Theater, and she saw that as progress. … See also the web site, njmoca.org for the proposed NJ MUseum of Contemporary Art. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: asburypark-dig...@yahoogroups.com asburypark-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: asburypark-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/