The Brooklyn Museum is in the final stages of choosing a new director. It's a vital transition at an important arts institution.
WNYC's Soterios Johnson visited the museum with Queens City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer, who chairs the Cultural Affairs Committee, and comedian and filmmaker Negin Farsad. He asked them: What are the most important qualifications that the new director of the museum must have?
Here are some of the highlights of the conversation:
On the qualifications of the new leader:
Van Bramer: "They should love Brooklyn and art," he said. "Be a good fundraiser and have good people skills. In terms of something they shouldn't have, they probably should not love Manhattan more than they love Brooklyn."
Farsad: "In this climate, many people love Brooklyn more than they love Manhattan anyway, because it's where all the cool kids live," she said. "It's not just about the pickle shops and the vegan cheese, it's not just about the dudes who wear suspenders and have wax mustaches. I think a museum director needs to be equal parts Bay Ridge and Brooklyn Heights."
On the expectations from the city:
Van Bramer: "We expect them to be, above all else, good stewards of public money, because we are allocating millions and millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to this museum and to every museum that we fund."
Narsad: "One of the things I love about the Brooklyn Museum is first Saturdays. Many times I came to the Brooklyn Museum, had a couple of beers and looked with flirty eyes upon the delightful young men who have been dancing." she said. "The city has an expectations of museums to be a civic center, a place where communities can come together."
On the public it serves:
Van Bramer: "There is something very powerful and very special about black children coming to this museum and seeing images on the wall of people who look like them, knowing that they are worthy and important of such great works of art, and that is something we haven't always done well, but this museum gets it."
Farsad: "Who do I talk to about getting a couple more Iranian American Muslim ladies on the wall?"
On who should be the next director of the Brooklyn Museum:
Farsad: "The love child of Bjork and Seinfeld," she said. "I think that would get the craziest, funniest stuff."
Van Bramer: "Hillary Clinton," he said. "I want her to be the president as soon as we can make it happen. We can make her the president of the Brooklyn Museum like next week, and then we will let the other situation play out, see if she still wants it."
Who would you nominate for the job and why? Join the conversation with a comment, or Tweet us using #mymuseum, @wnyc.