Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek Resigns; Bubble’s Fate Uncertain

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Director Richard Koshalek has resigned, effective at the end of this year, following an inconclusive vote by the Hirshhorn's Board of Trustees on his vision for an inflatable architectural pavilion for the museum, according to a source who attended the meeting.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting, says Koshalek resigned because he didn't believe he had support for his vision for the Hirshhorn—not just the so-called Bubble, designed by the New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, but also a project to transform the lobby into an education center and another project involving sculptor Richard Serra.
With Koshalek's departure, plans for those projects will be canceled, the source says.
A spokeswoman for the Smithsonian, Linda St. Thomas, declined to comment, saying only that she has not seen a letter of resignation from Koshalek. The Hirshhorn's communications department couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
During a day-long meeting of the board, the trustees rendered an indecisive vote on the fate of the Bubble, with six trustees voting to recommend building it and six trustees voting against. The issue before the board today was a vote on whether to recommend it to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, not a vote on whether to build it.
An internal Smithsonian report commissioned by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian's undersecretary for history, art, and culture, had concluded that the Bubble would operate at a loss under each of the three scenarios officials examined, according to the Washington Post. The inflatable project was first proposed in 2009. Bloomberg LP had committed more than $1 million to the project, securing the right to name it the "Bloomberg Balloon" if it was actually built. Read more Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek Resigns; Bubble’s Fate Uncertain


For an exhibit titled “The Salon of Little Deaths,” this dual-artist show at Hamiltonian Gallery doesn’t include much in the way of orgasm art, though at least in the works of
Your metalhead friends wept openly when they heard about the death of Jeff Hanneman, one of Slayer's founding members. Right then, something hit you: “Maybe I should listen to some Slayer. Y’know, out of respect.” When you put on “Angel of Death,” you remembered that metal fucking rules, and now you’re fucking hooked. Good, news, convert! Maryland Death Fest is here to melt your face. Big bands always rally for Death Fest: This year unites Virginia’s Pig Destroyer (shown), metalcore band Converge, and Norwegian black-metal titans Carpathian Forest under one roof. 




Standout Track: No. 2, “Pretty Polly,” an England-by-way-of-Appalachia folk song about a murderous young man who kills his fiancée. The combination of clawhammer banjo and cello, along with the haunting vocals of Vandaveer members Mark Charles Heidinger and Rose Guerin, lends a macabre twang that distinguishes the song from previously recorded versions by The Byrds and Chicago bluesman Otis Taylor.









