New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs is launching a new study, targeting the city’s museums and performing arts groups to understand and quantify each institution’s demographic makeup.  The project is aimed at improving access and broad cultural affinity to the City’s cultural offerings.  “For the long-term vitality and relevancy of cultural institutions, it makes sense to have the staffs reflect that,” says Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. (more…)

The Art Newspaper takes a look at Bill de Blasio’s record in the past with the arts, and speculates where on his list of priorities the arts will fall during his time as Mayor, noting his record of support for smaller public institutions.  “Under Bloomberg, well-established institutions tended to be favored,” consultant Adrian Ellis says. Now, “those smaller organizations further from Manhattan may see an increase in their funding and their priority.” (more…)

The Rauschenberg Foundation is profiled in ArtNews this week, following the institution’s ambitious Marfa Dialogues event last fall, and its ongoing commitment to ambitious commissions and artist projects.  ““We look at our grant making through the lens of the values that defined Bob,” says Executive Director  Christy MacLear.  “So you don’t only say, ‘What would Bob do?’ Instead, you set up a framework so that a hundred years from now you can ask: Is it collaborative? Is it boundary-breaking? Is it risk-taking?”  (more…)

The heirs of Peggy Guggenheim have filed a lawsuit against the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, alleging that the foundation has failed to comply with the conditions of her gifts, and has placed her collection in storage to make room for various exhibitions in her Venice estate.   “They are totally disrespecting my great grandmother’s legacy… it’s appalling; it’s a big disappointment,” says Sindbad Rumney, the great grandson of Peggy Guggenheim.  “Basically… what we’ve [discovered] is that if you have the right amount of money and you have a collection, you can show it at the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice.” (more…)

The finalized plans for the expanded Museum of Modern Art campus have been announced, following a lengthy evaluation process, and the final decision by the organization has been unable to reconcile the preservation of the former American Folk Art Museum building with its new plans.  The new space, which will include a retractable glass wall, new gallery space and the opening of its entire first floor free to the public (including the sculpture garden), requires the destruction of the much-loved space, and goes against protests from a number of premier architects.  “It’s not for lack of trying that we find ourselves at the same pass,” said Elizabeth Diller, a principal at the firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro, which evaluated the new plans. “We can’t find a way to save the building.” (more…)