what's going on at the museum?

THURS: anti-Ratner protest at the Bklyn Museum Ratner Gala:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41689

ltjbukem wrote: two words: KANYE WEST.

he's giving a performance at the gala for bruce ratner. basically a bunch of corporate types myself who probably dont even know who the hell he is....'is he that rapper moss deaf???'

*snort* I was sure it was a bunch of idiots clamoring to be the first in line at the Louis Vuitton boutique... yes, they set up a freaking Louis Vuitton boutique in the museum. Gag me.

ChristinafromBklyn wrote: I wonder if Jay-Z or any other big name Brooklyn artists would get up there and dance the jig for the right price.... Ugh... :evil:

Um...i hate to burst your brooklyn artist bubble, but Jay-Z is totally complicit in the building of Atlantic Yards...or is my sarcasm meter broken?

ChristinafromBklyn wrote: I wonder if Jay-Z or any other big name Brooklyn artists would get up there and dance the jig for the right price.... Ugh... :evil:

Of course they fucking would.

As far as them needing to be financially involved, it doesn't matter how much you have, you also need more.

It is as true for Jay-Z as it is for Joe-Shmoe.

If only...true happiness is always around the corner.

Not to get, ah fuck it.

Until one figures out how to be happy with what they have, no matter what that may be, they will never be truly be happy.

I'm not defending the The Brooklyn Museum or "Crap-ner" But reality check. Fundraising has been going on for a loooooonnnng time. You take what you can get. The Museum needs money and Ratner is giving. So why not. Maybe if more people went to the exhibits, they wouldn't need to take money from people like Ratner, Trump, etc.

The Brooklyn Museum sold out? Name one institution in this country that NEVER took money from someone a little crooked. Don't want Ratner money going to the Museum? Become a lifetime member and give your money and time.

GOD wrote: I'm not defending the The Brooklyn Museum or "Crap-ner" But reality check. Fundraising has been going on for a loooooonnnng time. You take what you can get. The Museum needs money and Ratner is giving. So why not. Maybe if more people went to the exhibits, they wouldn't need to take money from people like Ratner, Trump, etc.

The Brooklyn Museum sold out? Name one institution in this country that NEVER took money from someone a little crooked. Don't want Ratner money going to the Museum? Become a lifetime member and give your money and time.

Holy Missing of the Point there, God.

Best summed up by Someone Else:

We don't question the Museum's right to raise funds to support itself. We don't even question the Museum's accepting donations from Bruce Ratner. What we do take issue with is honoring and celebrating Bruce Ratner in light of what he has done and proposes to do to Brooklyn's communities.

sweet tea wrote:
all true, but it is a bit much to give the guy a MEDAL. i've worked in non-profits and seen the fancy parties -- i'm basically for it. people like to give money to places where they have a nice time, and as long as the fancy parties bring in significantly more than they cost, it's all for the good. but the "you're a rich guy!" award is creepy, and it seems like they could have rewarded another big donor now and maybe tapped ratner another year.

Your right. A medal is a bit much. Most rich developers are attracted to shiny metal objects. I'm sure it will go on the shelf with all the other "You're a rich guy!" awards.

leet wrote: Roberta Smith review of the Murakami show in the Times -

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/arts/design/04mura.html

interesting. I have no problems with the vuitton boutique partly because the murakami work has helped rebrand that company as something other than a stuffy and/or blingtastic icon. and ... I love purses.

ChristinafromBklyn wrote: I walked by and saw all the old, rich douchebags and their haggy wives in there schmoozing it up. What a slap in the face to the people of Brooklyn

Without those people we could probably say "good bye" to the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, BAM and pretty much all the other cultural institutions in the city.

ChristinafromBklyn wrote: I forgot hearing that Jay-Z was all for the Atlantic Yards project(even involved in it?)...

Jay-Z (and Forest City Ratner) has a significant stake in the ownership of the NJ Nets, so he supports the Atlantic Yards project under the pretense of bringing basketball to Brooklyn (or profiting on his investment, depending on your perspective).

I hadn't realized that FCR is a publicly traded company (technically, the subsidiary of a publicly traded company...but close enough). Tune up your smallest violin for the $3.7B of lost market value since early 2007.
http://finance.google.com/finance?tkr=1&q=FCE.A

Very true Sterling, but the whole point of this post is that "honoring" someone like Ratner or being part of that honoring at an institution in the very city of the people that Ratner is shitting on is disrespectful.

I mean honoring Ratner at the Brooklyn Museum?!! Paying money to HONOR him?!! Since they know how to use their money wisely by supporting and in a lot of cases making possible, the existence of some cultural institutions, shame on them for participating in such an event!

If people really feel so strongly on the Ratner/BMA issue, they should simply speak with their feet, not renew their BMA memberships and not go to the museum any longer.

There are any number of Corporate sponsors at BMA and other institutions that we could wag a finger at -- financial companies complicit in the mortgage crisis, ConEd that has been criticized for it's lack of support to local customers during power outages, Big Tobacco (Altria) causing the deaths of many, Big Pharma (Pfizer) contributing to the commodization of American healthcare, etc.

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/give/corporate_partners.php

Likewise, Jay-Z is also a part-owner of the Nets and involved in the new development. We should probably write him off as not being authentically on the side of the people of Brooklyn, too.

Ratner's the easier target for people to wrap their heads around because of the local issue, but all the above have a much larger regional, national and international impact. I'm not defending the development DDDB opposes, but pointing out that choosing one target among a field of corporate sponsorship and recognition is just the tip of the long American tradition of funding in the US (see: Ford, Carnegie, etc., etc.)...

Then let's add NYU to the list of the institutions to boycott, along with:

- Prospect Park
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters
- Brooklyn Academy of Music
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Pratt (Mr. ratner got an honory degree from them in '96)
- The City Parks Foundation
- The Salvation Army
- Museum of Jewish Heritage/A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
- International Rescue Fund
- Wexner Center for the Arts (that's in Ohio, so easy to write-off)

I'm sure this list isn't comprehensive, but it gives us all a place to start.

sterling2000 wrote: If people really feel so strongly on the Ratner/BMA issue, they should simply speak with their feet, not renew their BMA memberships and not go to the museum any longer.

Taking it to the nth degree.

There is a difference between, Hey, this is bullshit. And, Hey, this is bullshit, let us burn this town to the ground.

In life there are things that we like and things that we don't like about many things. If we quit everything that has anything that has something we disagree with, then there would be nothing left.

However, that doesn't preclude us of our right to speak out against that which we despise.