Lidtke Gallery
Lidtke opened his Pioneer Square gallery in 1992. On Oct. 5, the state Department of Revenue filed a tax warrant against Lidtke for $37,838. Complaints and lawsuits continue to mount against Seattle art dealer Kurt Lidtke, who has been accused by clients around the country of failing to pay for or return works of art.
When a gallery has problems, there is a ripple effect, Pioneer Square gallery owner Greg Kucera said.
"I think the repercussion in the art community is similar to the Chinese art scandal," he said, referring to Thesaurus Fine Art, an Asian antiques store in Pioneer Square that closed down last year after a Seattle Times investigation exposed it for selling fakes. "It makes people recoil and look askance at all of us who have a good record."
Read Seattle art dealer faces more suits, complaints By Sheila Farr, Seattle Times art critic Monday, November 15 2004

Sheri Olson
Sheri Olson, an award-winning critic and contributing editor for Architectural Record, left the Seattle Post-Intelligencer after more than three years as the paper's sole architectural critic. The Stranger chalked it up to a biting critique, a disgruntled designer, and a newspaper that refused to ensure indemnity for a part-time freelance writer. The flap over Olson started in mid-April, when the P-I ran her review of the brick apartment complex at 700 Broadway Avenue, which opened to decidedly mixed reviews earlier this year. But the review prompted a furious letter from Weber + Thompson, the architectural firm that designed the development, demanding a correction and obliquely threatening a lawsuit if the P-I did not redress the situation.

The irony of this story is that Olson is now a Design Commissioner for the City of Seattle with a Term that expires 10/06. The Seattle Design Commission was established in 1968 to ensure that public facilities and projects within the civic environment incorporate high standards of design quality and efficiency. Broadly, the Design Commission reviews projects funded in any part with City money and/or on City land and makes recommendations as the projects develop. Design Commission review is a required part of the City’s formalized design review process. The Commission meetings are open to the public and are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Read BROADWAY REVIEW: P-I Critic Quits After Flap Over Negative Article by Erica Barnett, The Stranger August 8, 2004

BAM[Bellevue Art Museum]
What happened is quite simple: BAM ran out of money. It did so by having a poor business plan and a Board of Trustees who were asleep at the wheel. In a swift Pyrrhic gesture, most of the staff was laid off, and the current exhibitions closed about three days after opening The result a promising new art school was eliminated under the new vision. The Board blamed "edgy" exhibitions, and Stephen Holl's controversial red H-shaped building. Gone was the idea that tt was to be a city center shaping the influx of new money to the region, with new technologies that made new kinds of art possible. The re-opening date has been set back twice, and Michael Monroe, Executive Director/Chief Curator was hired to steer the ship. Monroe joined the staff of the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian's museum of contemporary American craft and design, as associate curator in 1974 and served as curator-in-charge of that institution from 1986 until 1995. So it looks like BAM is going to become BCM [Bellevue Crafts Museum]

So there you have a brief cooks tour of the exciting times in the Seattle Creative Community. I hope it lasts.
Update 12/01/2004 Trouble at CoCA

CoCA Director Resigns; Interim Director Named
November 30, 2004: The Center on the Contemporary Art (CoCA) announces the resignation of Director Don Hudgins. Hudgins, former Collection Manager for Dale Chihuly and owner of Art Shuttle Inc., a Chicago-based art-moving company, was hired as Director of CoCA in 2000.
Hudgins oversaw CoCA’s moving into new spaces on Capital Hill and CoCA’s current address at 410 Dexter Ave in Seattle’s South Lake Union District. Daniel Kany, a current Board member who was Chair at the time of Hudgins’ hiring, notes the Director’s key role: “When Don came on, CoCA had short notice to leave the Terry Street location; it was a tough moment and he took it upon himself to dig CoCA out of a hole. Under Don and President Dino Martini, CoCA has sustained four straight years of growth and stability.”
According to Hudgins: “For the past three years, it has been both my challenge and privilege to attempt to guide a struggling arts organization to the forefront of contemporary art in the Seattle. During my tenure, CoCA grew and we delivered some amazing programming, such as our first show in the Capital Hill space, “Blurred” as well as Michael Klein’s “Crossroads”; and in the new space I was particularly proud of “Domicile” and events such as dorkbot and the recent lecture by Laurie Anderson.”
Board President and architect John A. Gascon has announced the appointment Greg Gartrell as Interim Managing Director. In this position, Gartrell will maintain operations and provide strategic planning. The Molecular Biologist/Builder has a graduate degree in architecture from University of Oregon and extensive project management experience in the arts and nonprofit sectors. Gartrell will take time away from his design and development interests to step in for the interim period. Gascon is appreciative of the situation: “What Don has done for CoCA cannot be overstated. He truly helped CoCA at tough time and helped lay the groundwork for CoCA’s exciting growth – growth that is being energized by an amazing slate of upcoming programming, a great new space and a passionate Board with a balance of veterans and fresh faces.”
Currently up at CoCA and running through January 12 is the annual members’ exhibition and a solo photography show by Evergreen professor Hugh Lentz. The next event at CoCA is dorkbot on Wednesday, December 1 at 7:30pm– Install Here! is the theme of this month’s dorkbot and featured lecturers will be Iole Alessandrini, S. Lyn Goeringer and Stephanie Andrews.
Let the good times roll!