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1. Joey C | May 18, 2011 at 3:08 pm

   You want to be profitable, I want you to be profitable, every body wants you to be profitable. Step one, Apologize for hiring that architect. Step 2, Put an IMAX theater in there. Step 3 ??????. Step 4, profit.
2. abdnva | May 18, 2011 at 4:57 pm

   There will never be apologies for the architect because that would be admitting the initial ‘vision’ was flawed. Just as the decision to spend over $60 mil on the construction, as opposed to spending about $20-40 mil and using the remainder for funding the operations for decades.

   Regardless, the focus needs to be on the region and on exhibits that appeal to large segments of the local population and those interested in the region. Not a tiny minority of art fanatics, but a large minority (or even a majority) of people who have NOT been attending thus far.

   It needs to be affordable, it needs to invest in the region, it needs to recognize the tastes of the region, not try to mimic some other metro.
3. Curtis | May 18, 2011 at 5:01 pm

   There are people in this Valley who raised over $60 Million to build this museum. They believed in this community enough to extend the opportunity for a world class facility to be built right here in the Roanoke Valley. Roanokers are worth every penny that was spent, we deserve this art museum and more…and we need to stop criticizing this investment, and support a truly unique structure. Other things we deserve:
   1) Va Tech to win a national title
   2) N&S Corporate Offices to return
   3) Va Tech Carilion Medical College
   4) World Class Education for our Kids
   5) The Wonderful Greenways
   6) A Renovated Center In The Square
   7) The Weiner Stand
   8) More High Paying Jobs
   9) A Bigger Better Zoo
   10) Zero Percent Unemployment

   Hug your neighbor…..we live in a great place
4. abdnva | May 18, 2011 at 5:53 pm

   The investment is not what was criticized, and that post was done in a measured tone. The allocation of resources is what I criticized. I’ll also choose to disagree with your assessment of the center as ‘world class’. Just because it has an architectural design borrowed from a fad nearly two decades old does not mean it is ‘world class’.

   If you raise $60+ million for an art center that does NOT mean it is responsible to spend $60+ million in the construction. They’re proud because they’ve squeezed $1.2 mil from donors this year to keep from closing the doors? Really?

   Gee, what if – call this a crazy thought – they had been fiscally responsible instead of futilely trying to construct an aberration that they could call ‘world class’? What if – $30+ mil had been allocated for construction – using green construction methods and architectural design – and $30 mil had been allocated to maintain operations for the next 20-30 years, while using some of those funds to source relevant future exhibits that would appeal to the region?

   There was enough money there to ensure that – recession or not – operations could be sourced out of a fund that grew enough to cover expenses for decades on end.

   Yeah, I know, that’s a concept that’s ‘too far out there’ for the Taubman defenders. Like I said originally, a refusal to admit lack of vision…
5. AKC | May 19, 2011 at 7:19 am

   abdnva, Thank you so much. I could not have said it better myself. “Just because it has an architectural design borrowed from a fad nearly two decades old does not mean it is ‘world class’.” While I did not support the construction of the museum, it is built now and not going anywhere; so Roanoke as a city needs to communicate what it would like to see in the museum and those people who are in charge at the Taubman need to listen. I don’t think the building will hold an IMAX, so that probably won’t happen. However the building can become more of a multi-use cultural center that appeals to a wide range of residents. The biggest problem now is the limited amount of exhibits compared to the cost of admission. A drive to Richmond or DC will get much larger museums for free. If the Taubman continues to be only an art museum it will fail sooner rather then later. Also, to a certain extent a large number of people in the city are going to have to get past the anger they feel over what they consider the ruin of classic downtown Roanoke with the “crash of the flying nun”.
6. abdnva | May 19, 2011 at 8:32 am

   There will certainly be challenges to the type of exhibits because of the design, but the real focus needs to be on the museum reaching out to the people. That does NOT just mean holding some sessions where the vast majority of people that attend are already ‘art fans’, people who supported the original misguided attempt.

   Some factors need to be accepted. First, it’s not and never was ‘world class’, so stop pretending it holds that relevance. Secondly, focus on appealing to the city & the region. There’s no shame in doing so. That means you reach out to the people, not just invite them to come see you. The museum needs to make 90% of the effort, just as any business. Third, people from other areas will NOT visit because of the structure. They will visit based on the content. Fourth, keep the economic climate in the region in mind. There’s more, but why try to swallow the whole elephant at once…
7. Jeff Miller | May 19, 2011 at 5:08 pm

   I’d encourage anyone who posted here to see my posts on the blog entry featuring coverage from last night’s town hall meeting at the museum. Many of the opinions expressed here, while valid, make assumptions that the museum has not taken steps to issue a mea culpa, acknowledge that mistakes were made, etc. It has done that numerous times, in a variety of public forums – not just its own location.