Queens Museum Chief to Head N.Y. City Arts Agency
April 7, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has tapped the president and executive director of the Queens Museum as the city’s cultural-affairs commissioner, a move The New York Times says signals that the arts will be part of the new administration’s emphasis on the disenfranchised.
During his 12-year Queens Museum tenure, Tom Finkelpearl has hired community organizers to improve the institution’s outreach, particularly to the borough’s panoply of immigrant communities. The museum offers courses in numerous languages, and its recent $68-million renovation was largely aimed at forging a closer connection to the neighborhood.
“Tom believes that art is for everybody,” Mr. de Blasio said of Mr. Finkelpearl, who as commissioner will be in charge of a $156-million culture budget and serve as the city’s point person on arts affairs.
