Stunned at the announced Tuesday closure of BAM, the visual arts community has reacted slowly to the scoop by PI Art Critic Regina Hackett, 11 hours before JOA rival Seattle Times piece. The announcement has left the community more questions than answers.

"The closure is the latest and most dramatic in a series of blows to the museum. In August, museum director Kathleen Harleman quit over what she described as artistic disagreements with the board."
Warren Cornwall
Seattle Times Eastside Bureau

The trouble seems to stem from a poorly written business plan. It projected revenues from the Museum School to help cover the cost of operating the museum. When the School failed to meet these unrealistic enrollment projections, the museum board turned inward, shredding staff and decreasing morale as obvious consequences. Several key staff members including curator Brian Wallace were purged. Thus the museum was deprived of the knowledge of what the community's interests were.

The choice of hiring a new Director from outside of the community led to even more unfortunate programing choices. The recent shows at BAM have not been edgy or too avant-garde, rather they have been boring. This lack of vision rests some with former Director Kathleen Harleman but should be blamed on an absentee board of Directors.

Other unfortunate decisions included canceling the Northwest Annual where younger artists had an opportunity to exhibit. Aside from University of Washington's annual MFA and BFA exhibits and Cornish College of the Arts annual BFA shows, most work shown in Seattle is from artists who live elsewhere or at the end of their very long careers.

BAM's closure might create new opportunities for Bellevue if the board would resign en masse and give the keys over to the City of Bellevue itself. Perhaps then, like a phoenix, BAM will arise anew better suited to serve the community

Timeline of BAM

1947 -First arts and crafts fair held outside Crabapple Restaurant at Bellevue Square.

1961 -- PANACA Gallery opens in Bellevue Square to display, sell artists' work year round.

1967 --Film festival added to fair and remains a fixture until 1981.

1973 -- Foundation School for Contemporary Art opens.

1975 -- Bellevue Arts Museum opens in former Chapel of Flowers mortuary at 10310 NE Fourth St., now JC Penney parking lot.

1976 -- First director, John Olbrantz, hired fresh from UW grad school.

1978 -- ``Eye for Eye: Egyptian Images and Inscription'' exhibit opens. Coinciding with King Tut traveling display in Seattle, it draws 4,000 to 6,000 visitors a month.

1981 -- A grand opening gala for Bellevue Square raises $75,000 for the museum, which plans to move into the expanded shopping center's third floor.

1982 -- Museum art school closes for lack of money and space in new location.

1983 --Museum moves on Jan. 30 to new 10,000 square-foot space in Bellevue Square.

1984 -- BAM organizes and launches an exhibit of work by Tacoma glass artist Dale Chihuly that travels the country for two years after leaving Bellevue.

1985 -- Olbrantz resigns. LaMar Harrington hired as director. ``Hidden Heritage: The Art of Black America,'' an exhibition co-curated by Olbrantz surveying 200 years of African-American artists, opens in the fall, then tours nationally.

1989 -- Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, ``In the Realm of Ideas,'' includes 1,800-square-foot Wright-designed house displayed in what is now Downtown Park.

1991 -- Diane Douglas of Chicago hired as director.

1997 -- Capital campaign for new building is launched and raises more than $20 million in two years.

1998 -- Permanent art collection will not move to the new space, BAM trustees and staff decide.

1999 -- Ground is broken for $23 million, 36,000-square-foot building across Bellevue Way from the shopping mall. The design by architect Stephen Holl will triple current space.

2001 -- New building opens with gala on Jan. 13.

2002 -- Douglas steps down and new director, Kathleen Harleman of Florida, grapples with low attendance and budget shortfalls.

2002 -- Harleman resigns in July. 2003 -- Faced with growing financial problems, BAM announces it is closing for the rest of the year in early October.