In the Arts: Cleveland Museum Opens New Wing, Film Buffs Lobby

The Wall Street Journal reports on the Cleveland Museum of Art’s ambitious expansion, the first phase of which was completed in June.

The eight-year project has so far accomplished a renovation of the museum’s existing 1916 and 1971 buildings and the start of a new wing by the architect Rafael Viñoly. The second phase, which includes another Viñoly-designed addition, is contingent on raising an additional $150-million, a task made more daunting by the departure of Timothy Rub, the museum’s director, to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In other arts news, Michael Govan, art director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has agreed to meet with an organization of film aficionados seeking a reversal of his decision to close the institution’s 40-year-old weekend film series, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Times also reports that Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese has weighed in on the controversy, penning an open letter to Mr. Govan in support of the cinema program.

And The Washington Post profiles billionaire Peter Buck, the co-founder of the Subway sandwich shops, who recently purchased one of the world’s largest rubies and a 224-year-old letter from George Washington expressly to donate them to the Smithsonian.

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