Barbara Isenberg writes and lectures about arts issues and personalities. Formerly a staff writer for both the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, she is a regular contributor to the Times and has written for such publications as Esquire, Time, Talk, The Nation, Ms., and London’s Sunday Times. Her books include Conversations with Frank Gehry, Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical and State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. She received a Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. As a Visiting Lecturer at the Getty, she created and hosted its “Art Matters” public conversations. She was associate director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities from May, 2004 to May, 2011. Photo credit: Patricia Williams.