Paul Holdengräber, the creative force behind the county art museum's Institute for Art and Cultures, has resigned. His departing email is short and sweet:

Subject: Farewell

For the past five years, I have had the good fortune of being the Director of The LACMA Institute for Art and Cultures. I have now tendered my resignation effective May 3, 2004.

I would like to thank my colleagues at LACMA, the Board of Trustees, and the wonderful public for their enthusiastic and loyal support.

Thank you.

Paul Holdengräber, Director
The LACMA Institute for Art and Cultures
www.lacmainstitute.org

Guests in the institute's lecture series have included David Hockney, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sellars, Studs Terkel, Tim Robbins, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, R.B. Kitaj, and Susan Sontag. (* Attn: Editors...there's apparently a backstory here to be ferreted out...**Thursday update: The Times only carries a brief that adds nothing, except that a LACMA spokeaman says the future of the institute has not been decided.)