Despite fierce protests from researchers, curators and museum heads, the Louvre is pushing forward with its decision to move 250,000 artworks and artifacts to a new storage facility north of the city, in Liévin, a move that many say will cripple research attempts in the capital.  “A museum without its reserves is like a plane without engines: it looks all beautiful and glittering, but it won’t move,” says an open letter from 42 of the museum’s 45 curators. (more…)

As it prepares to move downtown, the Whitney has announced that it will donate its freestanding studio space uptown to Queens’s Socrates Sculpture Park.  “The Whitney Museum has generously presented us with an opportunity to explore the possibility of our first indoor space, which may be used to expand the park’s longstanding free arts education program,” says Socrates Sculpture Park director John Hatfield. “Other possible adaptable uses may include a gallery, visitor area or administrative space.” (more…)

A long rumored merger between MOCA North Miami and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach is moving forward, the Miami Herald reports.  MOCANoMi officials are apparently in the final stages of talks over moving the museum collection to Miami Beach.  “At this time, we feel confident that a collaboration with the Bass could make a lot of sense,” says MOCANoMi curator and interim director Alex Gartenfeld. (more…)

West Coast art dealer Blum and Poe has begun its search for a gallery space in New York City, which is intended to “focus on our artists who currently do not have representation in New York, in addition to very specific projects, both historical and otherwise,” says co-owner Tim Blum.  The gallery is currently based in Los Angeles, and will look to open by August. (more…)

Moving towards a sleeker, stripped-down brand identity, the Whitney Museum of American Art has unveiled its new logo and site design, making reference to the Whitney Museum’s new Chelsea location and its jagged architectural facade.  Designed by Experimental Jetset Studios, the museum is currently hosting a video documenting the process of creating the new identity on its website. (more…)