With his 30-year reign as the director of the Museum of Modern Art now in the rear view after stepping last month, Glenn Lowry has been talking about the past, present, and future as the art world wonders what such a high-profile figure with more working years in him (he turned 71 just a few days ago) will do next.
To MoMA patrons, Lowry spoke of the importance of maintaining values that are now, more than ever, at risk. “If we believe in a museum that celebrates the values of pluralism, that honors freedom of expression, and protects minority rights and dissent, then we will have to actively defend our values,” he said in a speech at a fundraiser in June, as noted by the New York Times.
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Now, in a new interview with Charlotte Burns on the podcast The Art World: What If…?!, Lowry has more to say about museums in general as well as his own personal plans.
The Art Newspaper picked up on Lowry’s worry over the Trump administration’s threats to museums’ tax-exempt status as charitable or educational enterprises. As cited by Gareth Morris, Lowry said, “I think that [(501(c)3) status] is the magic wand that allowed this country to develop one of the most robust cultural programs in the world…. I think we are looking at a federal government that is prepared to exert a great deal of power, or authority, in order to achieve a set of ambitions.”
Hyperallergic focused on Lowry’s stated plans to work as an adviser for the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as well as the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi. As noted by Valentina Di Liscia, Lowry said, “I’m very interested in the Middle East. It’s a part of the world that I started my career in, and I’m fascinated by what’s happening, particularly in the Gulf area, but not just in the Gulf area.”
Also, later on in the interview: “I spend a lot of time in the Gulf. It’s amazing what’s going on there. Very different system, patronized in a very different way and realized in a very different way, but very ambitious in the same way that culture in this country was very ambitious 100 years ago.”
Artnet News noted that Lowry is working on a prospective new leadership campaign for Alice Walton’s Art Bridges Foundation and will deliver a series of talks titled “I Want a Museum. I Need a Museum. I Imagine a Museum” at the Louvre next month. As Sarah Cascone picked up, Lowry said, “It’s a seriously interesting moment to be directing a museum. You have to have, I think, a really positive attitude.… Your responsibility is to look at all these problems, assess the ones that are impacting you, and then navigate your way through them.”