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| Photo by Copia |
Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, has struggled with an identify crisis even since its broke ground in 1999.
Should it be a showcase for the Robert Mondavi Winery? Should it be a museum? Or, should it be a place to experience the subtle pairings of food and wine? Or should it be a community center devoted to “the good life” – food, wine, and the arts, all in one?
Copia has tried on all of these hats. Graced with a stunning building by New York’s Polshek Partnership, the architectural firm that had overseen the renovation of Carnegie Hall and a lovely site on the banks of the Napa River, one would think it would draw in many wine tourists, as well as locals.
But membership levels and visitors have been disappointing. A group of friends and I were there this past Friday, after touring several wineries. Despite free admission, Copia was nearly empty.
As my plane landed in Boston this afternoon, I checked my email and found news of the latest twist in Copia’s troubled search for its calling. It was a note from Larry Tsai, Copia’s director of marketing, announcing that he’d be leaving “in the near future.”
His boss, Arthur Jacobus, who is Copia’s president, “will be leaving the organization – effective, tomorrow, Friday, March 14, 2008,” according to Larry’s note. Gary McGuire, former Copia chairman of the Board of Trustees, would step into Mr. Jacobus’s job on Monday.
Last week, Copia’s much admired “wine guy” Peter Marks jumped ship to join Icon Estates, owned by Constellation, as its President of Education. It was Constellation that bought the Robert Mondavi Corp. in 2004.
Peter worked at Copia for seven years, living through many of the changes, yet sent a note about grateful he was to have had the “opportunity to help build the dream of Robert Mondavi and Julia Child.”
After taking a peak into Copia’s stunning lobby on Friday afternoon, one of the friends I was with quipped “this would make a great high school.” He’s a high school football coach, so perhaps that explains his take on should be done with this slightly-out-of-the-way spot.
Copia was Robert Mondavi’s first big philanthropic project after his company went public in 1993. His dream, modelled on the Rothschild’s museum at Chateau Mouton, was one that was shared with his friend Julia Child. One can’t help but wonder what Mr. Mondavi and Mrs. Child would think of the troubles at Copia now…