Date: Fri 09-Jul-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Folk

Full Text:

Museum Of American Folk Art Receives $2.5 Million From New York City

NEW YORK CITY -- The Museum of American Folk Art has been appropriated $2.5

million from the City of New York in capital campaign funds to be used for its

new museum and headquarters, which will be at 45-47 West 53rd Street, just

west of the Museum of Modern Art. These funds represent almost ten percent of

the $30 million capital campaign undertaken for the construction of the new

building and museum expansion and bring the total now raised to $20.5 million.

The $2.5 million breaks down as follows: $1.5 million from the New York City

Council, with $750,000 to be received in fiscal year 2000 and $750,000 to be

received in fiscal year 2001, and $1 million from the mayor's office to be

received in fiscal year 2000.

Gerard C. Wertkin, director of the museum, noted that "This recognition is

especially gratifying because the museum was founded on the conviction that

folk art deserves a home in New York City, the cultural capital of the world.

The museum will continue to operate its site at 2 Lincoln Square, the Eva and

Morris Feld Gallery. This 2,500-square-foot gallery is open six days a week

and is free to the public.

Ground breaking for the new museum is planned or this fall, with a move-in

date of late spring 2001. The building, designed by architects Tod Williams,

Billie Tsien and Associates, joins a cluster of cultural institutions in

midtown Manhattan including the Museum of Modern Art, the American Craft

Museum, and the Museum of Television and Radio, as well as numerous corporate

galleries and exhibition spaces.

With the completion of the new building, the Museum of American Folk Art will

have 30,000 square feet on eight levels, allowing significant space for both

permanent and rotating exhibitions. Seven of the eight floors will be entirely

dedicated to public space, including an atrium, and auditorium, classroom and

informal education areas, a cafe and a museum shop. The reference library and

museum offices will be located below ground level on the only floor not

automatically open to the public.