Untitled Gallery and Zach Feuer will merge to form two similarly titled spaces sharing resources and artists in the L.E.S. this May, Art News reports.  The two spaces, Feuer/Mesler and Mesler/Feuer, continue previous collaborations, including 2013’s Jew York show, which was on view at both dealers’ respective spaces.  “It’s an interesting time for galleries on the Lower East Side,” says Untitled’s Joel Mesler says. “It’s become an establishment in and of itself.”  (more…)

An article in the Washington Post this week highlights one favorable effect of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s merger with the National Gallery: permanently free admission to the museum collection.  As of today, the merger is official, making the Corcoran collection part of the National Gallery, and open to all visitors. (more…)

After reporting yesterday that Leon Black‘s publishing house Phaidon Press was in talks to purchase online art gallery Artspace, Bloomberg has published an article confirming the deal. Although the price paid by Phaidon for Artspace remains unknown, the article reports that, when Auctionata was in talks to acquire the gallery, Artspace had been valued at just under $5 million. The article also points out that this merger will give Phaidon Press and, by extension, Leon Black access to Artspace’s extensive mailing list of 150,000 active art collectors, increasing “[Phaidon’s] access to global art collectors who are also consumers of its art and design books and multimedia products”.

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The recently announced dissolution of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC is looking to take longer than anticipated, NPR reports.  Concerns over the architecture of the space and any intended changes or repairs will require an extensive review process, and the logistics of George Washington University taking over the Corcoran’s art school while the National Gallery of Art takes over the collection.  “The minute you start touching that building, which is to get the infrastructure of that building straightened out, there will be major ADA problems, Americans with Disabilities Act problems,” says former Corcoran director David Levy, “because that building was built at a time when nobody thought about those things.” (more…)

A long rumored merger between MOCA North Miami and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach is moving forward, the Miami Herald reports.  MOCANoMi officials are apparently in the final stages of talks over moving the museum collection to Miami Beach.  “At this time, we feel confident that a collaboration with the Bass could make a lot of sense,” says MOCANoMi curator and interim director Alex Gartenfeld. (more…)

The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC has announced that it will be taken over by the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University, part of a new plan for the longstanding arts institution.  The plan would see the Corcoran School of Art and Design made part of George Washington University, with the University covering the millions of dollars in much-needed renovations.  “There is no way to continue the Corcoran as we knew it or as we know it,” said Peggy Loar, interim director and president of the Corcoran. “That’s going to be the kernel of pain for some people.” (more…)

Illinois-based Blick Art Materials has bought out the New York art supply company Utrecht, adding 45 stores to its already established 39.  Terms were not disclosed on the handling of Utrecht’s line of supplies, paints, and other materials.  “The acquisition of Utrecht gives us a tremendous, well-established brand and greater geographic reach for our brick and mortar channel,” said Blick CEO Robert Buchsbaum.   (more…)

Following several weeks of turbulence for Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the institution announced that it has been promised donations that will raise its endowment past $60 million, the highest levels in its 34-year history.  The news comes after several weeks in which the museum was forced to consider a potential merger with LACMA to keep its doors open.  “The financial support we have already raised demonstrates the commitment of the board to ensuring that MOCA remains a world-class independent contemporary art museum, and we call on others to join in this campaign,” says MOCA Board President Jeffrey Soros. (more…)

In a new twist to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s current fiscal problems, MOCA is reportedly in talks for a partnership with the National Gallery, a development that casts doubts on that museum’s possible acquisition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  The discussed plan between MOCA and the National Gallery would open the door to collaborations on exhibition and research, but would do little to alleviate MOCA’s financial woes.  “The goal at this point is stabilizing them and get them standing as an independent institution,” says National Gallery chair John Wilmerding. “We’d like to see them survive and thrive, and if we can help them, that’s all we’re doing.” (more…)