ORLANDO, Fla. -- On a recent visit to Orlando Museum of Art, the gallery where purported Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings once hung, was dark. It’s a rare quiet spot amid the hustle and bustle of Orlando’s vibrant art scene — with Snap! opening a new show celebrating Florida photographers, the new Gallery 32789 coming to Winter Park next month, the Downtown Arts District’s “Art After Dark” soiree happening this weekend, and expansion plans underway for not one but two leading institutions: the Mennello Museum of American Art and Rollins Museum of Art.
With all the good news, it’s easy to view as an anomaly the scandal that engulfed Orlando Museum of Art after the FBI seized paintings presented as authentic Basquiats as part of a long-term investigation into the works.
But the angry Facebook comments, calls for an apology from museum leadership, a public mural that mocks the situation, even a resignation from a longtime OMA volunteer — all are signs of the cracks in the trust that exists between the museum and the community.
