Art Museum Construction

Sam Hall Kaplan’s front-page article (June 30) on the boom in art museum construction covered very well one aspect of this amazing phenomenon--the image or public-relations value of these new structures.

It seems a shame that we sometimes forget--or mention only in passing, as Kaplan does--that museums really have a primary function: to preserve for posterity works of art that represent either our highest or typical cultural achievements and to present these publicly in ways best designed to communicate these achievements.

Unfortunately, for every Guggenheim Museum, which is both an architectural monument and a stimulating place to see art, there are many instances where functional failure overwhelms architectural glamour. Hiring a great architect, as Kaplan implies, does not insure a workable and user-friendly structure.

Kaplan also mentions briefly the National Endowment for the Arts Architectural Competition process. The University Art Museum here at UC Santa Barbara, not having the resources to hire a great name--and being reasonably suspicious that this was not necessarily the best solution--concluded such a competition two years ago and is now raising funds to carry out the project.

From an amazing 256 entries, our jury chose a design by a relatively unknown partnership from Cambridge, Michael Dennis and Jeffrey Clark. The design is gracious, compatible with the campus yet unabashedly individualistic, and follows our own program to the letter. Not only does it have style, but we are sure it will serve both staff and visitor well.

What a shame that most museum commissions today seem to go to the same group of celebrated firms, when there are many fresh ideas available elsewhere.

J. DAVID FARMER

Santa Barbara

Farmer is director of the University Art Museum at the University of California at Santa Barbara.