August 7, 1998

 

To the MONA committee,

 

The director of your museum has asked me to respond to correspondence that you have received from the Guggenheim, and so I will.

 

If a snippy little letter from an individual is all that it takes for your museum to question its very existence, then perhaps the museum doesn’t deserve to continue.  Art museums and especially those that focus on contemporary art should expect occasional, if not frequent, criticism from a multitude of sources: artists, members, pillars of the community, friends, detractors, politicians, the press, etc., etc.  It comes with the territory.

 

Sincerely,

 

James T. Demetrion

Director

Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – Smithsonian Institution