Claremont Graduate University
Melody Kanschat is executive director of the Getty Leadership Council at Claremont Graduate University. She was previously the president and COO of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
PROFILE
Melody Kanschat
Guest
FROM Melody Kanschat
Design and Architecture
Remembering Southland construction giant Paul Matt Paul Matt, chairman of MATT Construction, who passed away on June 30 Paul Matt, chairman of Matt Construction and builder of a number of Los Angeles-area landmarks such as the Skirball Cultural Center, the Petersen Automotive Museum and The Broad, died on June 30 at the age of 85. Those buildings seem so permanent and effortless it's hard to remember that great struggles went into their construction. Matt Construction also built the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, the LACMA Resnick Pavilion, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Beverly Hills, and the restorations of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the Hollywood Bowl and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Matt began his career in construction as a welder on Oregon's Dalles Dam. In 1962, he supervised work on the Salk Institute in La Jolla, designed by the great American architect Louis Kahn, and he worked on the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA. Architect Moshe Safdie remembers him as "a builder at heart [who] had the pride of craftsmanship."
Which Way, L.A.?
Rescuing the Watts Towers LA's budget crisis has reached into the LAPD and the DWP. Now it's threatening one of the city's cultural treasures. Deferred maintenance on the Watts Towers has been estimated at $5 million, and the city can barely come up with $200,000. But the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has offered expert help and the promise to raise private money . Melody Kanschat is President of LACMA.
Design and Architecture
BCAM Comes to Town BCAM east façade, Installation of Urban Light Chris Burden, December, 2007 BCAM detail of glass core, north façade January, 2008, © Weldon Brewster BCAM southeast façade, BCAM Born scrim John Baldessari, January 2008 Installation of Urban Light Chris Burden, January, 2008 All images 2008 © Museum Associates, LACMA unless otherwise noted
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