Displaying items by tag: tom finkelpearl

Just months after Tom Finkelpearl left the Queens Museum to become New York City’s cultural affairs commissioner, the museum has selected a new president and executive director.

Laura Raicovich comes to the Queens Museum from Creative Time — which commissions and presents public art projects — where she has served as the director of global initiatives since 2012.

Tom Finkelpearl, the new commissioner of New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), believes artists can save the city. And he’s making news. Last week his department launched CultureAID (Culture Active in Disasters), a program conceived in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. A collaboration with the city’s Office of Emergency Management and FEMA’s Sandy Recovery Office, the initiative aims to formalize the essential role artists and arts organizations played in relief efforts after Sandy in anticipation of future disasters. In the lead up, Finkelpearl sat down with artnet News to offer a wide-ranging look into how he was approaching his new job, including thoughts on CultureAID, creating a more expansive vision for arts funding in New York, the Department of Cultural Affairs’s contribution to the city’s proposed new Municipal ID Card, and more.

On Monday, April 7, Mayor Bill de Blasio named Tom Finkelpearl, the president and executive director of the Queens Museum, New York’s new Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Finkelpearl will be in charge of a $156 million budget and will be the point person on the arts in New York, a city celebrated for its cultural bounty.

During his twelve-year tenure at the Queens Museum, Finkelpearl focused on the institution’s outreach efforts and emphasized the importance of building relationships between the museum and Queens’ immigrant population. He also spearheaded a $68 million renovation that was largely aimed at making the institution more inviting to the borough’s residents. Before joining the Queens Museum, Finkelpearl served as the deputy director of P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) and oversaw the institution’s merger with the Museum of Modern Art.

De Blasio, who celebrated his 100th day in office on April 10, is taking a more populist approach to the arts and aims to focus on the intrinsic social value of cultural affairs. He hopes to make art available to every child in the city as well as improve the quality of arts education in public schools.   

In a press release from the city announcing his appointment, Finkelpearl said, “New York City is one of the most eclectic and culturally rich cities in the world, and that’s something that should be shared by all New Yorkers and tourists alike. I could not be more proud to return to DCLA and lead the department into an era of ever-increasing openness – to nourish cultural activities in every corner of the city for all to enjoy. Our work is part of what distinguishes New York City as a cultural epicenter, and I look forward to working to fortify the already diverse offerings of the city’s arts and cultural life.”