New Rubell Museum in DC: Work in Progress

Acouple of weekends ago, I visited the new Rubell Museum in Washington, D.C. It just opened in October. The Rubell showcases the contemporary art collection of Donald and Mera Rubell and their son, Jason, all living in Miami. Together they’ve assembled 7,000 objects by a thousand artists, opened an art center in Miami in 1993, and premiered a second museum in southwest Washington.

There are many things to like about the Rubell. I’m never inclined to diss philanthropy, and the Rubells have refurbished an old public school into a very good space for art. Built in 1906, it served black children in what was then a rigidly segregated Washington. Marvin Gaye graduated from junior high school in that very building in 1954. What’s Going On is the inaugural, museum-wide exhibition, and it draws from the lyrics of Gaye’s anti-war, civil-rights tune from 1971.

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Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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Acouple of weekends ago, I visited the new Rubell Museum in Washington, D.C. It just opened in October. The Rubell showcases the contemporary art collection of Donald and Mera Rubell and their son, Jason, all living in Miami. Together they’ve assembled 7,000 objects by a thousand artists, opened an art center in Miami in 1993, and premiered a second museum in southwest Washington.

There are many things to like about the Rubell. I’m never inclined to diss philanthropy, and the Rubells have refurbished an old public school into a very good space for art. Built in 1906, it served black children in what was then a rigidly segregated Washington. Marvin Gaye graduated from junior high school in that very building in 1954. What’s Going On is the inaugural, museum-wide exhibition, and it draws from the lyrics of Gaye’s anti-war, civil-rights tune from 1971.