This may shock the sensibilities of those who only know socialite and Fine Arts Museums board president Dede Wilsey as “Dynamo Dede” of the Chronicle’s society pages: the New York Times has a fairly unflattering article about her. Noting that the museums have been without a director since John Buchanan’s death 15 months ago, a piece published Friday catches up with the ousters of longtime staff members and the leaked internal e-mails that have embarrassed the De Young and the Legion of Honor. Curator emeritus Robert Flynn Johnson is quoted as saying the museums are “in a state of Orwellian dysfunction.” Seems much of the bad karma centers around Wilsey. An excerpt:
Ms. Wilsey, for example, has been criticized for using museum personnel to tend to her personal collection; the Fine Art Museums’ decision to exhibit her son’s photography collection last summer was called nepotism.
“One person is in control,” said Denise B. Fitch, a member of the museums’ 44-person board of trustees who called herself a friend of two people who were fired.
