Folk Art Museum to Show Self-Taught Black Artists in Venice
By KATE TAYLORThe American Folk Art Museum, which is facing serious financial problems, is nonetheless embarking an ambitious project: an exhibition of African-American self-taught and graffiti artists to take place in Venice during the Biennale there. The exhibition will open June 1 at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a building owned by the Benetton Group that may ultimately become a Rem Koolhaas-designed retail and exhibition space. Benetton is offering the building to the museum for free, as well as providing advertising and art materials and holding the opening-night party. The museum’s director, Maria Ann Conelli, said that the budget for the one-month exhibition was between $300,000 and $400,000 and that the museum was reaching out to foundations and corporations for financing. Since January, the museum has been unable to make payments on the roughly $30 million it owes against its building on West 53rd Street. Last summer, it entered into a forbearance agreement with the company that insured its debt, ACA Financial Guaranty. That agreement expires on June 30. According to the most recent available financial statements, in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010, the museum ran a deficit from unrestricted activities of $3.6 million. Ms. Conelli said that the museum had a balanced budget for this year.
This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 24, 2011
A report in the “Arts, Briefly” column on Wednesday about an exhibition that the American Folk Art Museum has scheduled for June in Venice characterized incorrectly the status of plans for the building where it will be held, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. The Benetton Group, which owns the building, is considering a design by Rem Koolhaas to convert it into a retail and exhibition space; the company has not announced that it will pursue the design.
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