Leadership matters

The Cooper-Hewitt used to be on my required list for every New York trip. It could be counted on to be interesting, instructive and focused on matters of design. Design matters more than ever today, but the museum has lost its way. The current exhibit "Design Life Now" is unfocused and confusing to a designer - just exactly what should the general public gain from a visit to this exhibit? Design is about making things clear, understandable, usable as well as attractive. The current show meets not a single of these criteria. In my humble estimation, what is missing is the leadership of Diane Pilgrim,under whose guidance the museum had its best years. The shows were beautiful, well conceived, and several of the seminars that I attended were excellent. And what is it with those flowers on the facade of the building. It was a bad idea when one of the decorating reality shows stuck cheap silk flowers to a bathroom wall and it is a travesty on the facade of this Beaux-Arts mansion. Is this an attempt to make the building and its contents intellectually accessible?