I have to say that this is a little strange, given the very well publicized problems that The Albright-Knox in Buffalo, NY has had in the last few years.

You'll remember the Albright - one of my favorite museums, in the spirit of full disclosure - with its emphasis on modern and contemporary art, decided to auction off some of its antiquities to raise money to buy new art. The antiquities, the museum's board said, were a luxury the museum couldn't afford. They auctioned off a sculpture, "Artemis and the Stag," for some obscene amount that made national news.

What it can afford, however, is the launch of a capital campaign to expand its building and exhibition space and invite an internation ally renowned architect to design it - please, not Frank Gehry - so that it will be a place visitors from across the globe will flock to, as reported by The Buffalo News.

I have no qualm with a pretty new building, but the timing is a little bit weird. There's a stipulation that the money from the art cannot be spent on the building, but in the words of one not-so-thrilled Buffalo area blogger, CultureGrrrl, better keep an eye on that $90M art endowment.