Conversation: What Makes Some Arts Buildings Successful and Others Not?

July 13, 2012 - 6:45am
Anyone paying attention to American cultural life has noticed a boom of art-centered buildings in cities across the country. A new study by the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago takes what it builds as the first systematic look at this trend.
by: 

The Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago opened in 2009. Photo By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.

Anyone paying attention to American cultural life has noticed a boom of art-centered buildings in cities across the country. They've been promoted as sources of civic pride, of rebuilding downtowns and as economic generators.

A new study takes what it bills as the first systematic look at this trend. What makes some buildings successful and others not? The study is called Set in Stone, and it looks at the building of museums, performing art centers and theaters from 1994 to 2008. It was done by the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago.

I recently spoke two the two lead authors -- Carroll Joynes, who is the co-founder and senior fellow at the center, and Joanna Woronkowicz, an associate at the center -- about the study:

A transcript will be posted soon.Watch Jeffrey Brown's 2009 report about the opening of the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.

View the Original Article