By Alex Robinson
Mayor Bill de Blasio came to Queens Wednesday to tap Tom Finkelpearl as his commissioner of cultural affairs.
Finkelpearl served as the executive director of the Queens Museum for 12 years and oversaw an eight-year, $69 million expansion of the facility in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
“With his decades of experience in fortifying the city’s cultural institutions, Tom has developed a deep understanding of the powerful role art and culture play in moving our city forward, and the necessity of increasing access to our creative landmarks for all New Yorkers,” de Blasio told reporters, elected officials and members of the Queens arts community in the museum’s foyer.
The mayor lauded Finkelpearl for his community outreach work in an effort to make Queens Museum more accessible and open.
“This museum exemplifies Queens and everything that is good about this borough,” he said. “In recent years, this museum became so much more. It became bigger. It became more central to the life of Queens,” the mayor said. “It became a museum that connected more deeply to the neighborhoods around it. It’s all because it had a visionary leader.”
A sculptor by training, Finkelpearl served as a public affairs officer for Long Island City’s P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center — now MoMA PS1 — and as executive director of programs at Maine’s Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, before he moved on to the Queens Museum.
He also ran the city’s Percent for Art Program under mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani from 1990 to 1996. That program, which is managed by the Cultural Affairs Department, requires that 1 percent of the city-funded construction budget be spent on public artwork.
“New York City is one of the most eclectic and culturally rich cities in the world, and that’s something that should be shared by all New Yorkers and tourists alike,” Finkelpearl said. “I could not be more proud to return to DCLA and lead the department into an era of ever-increasing openness – to nourish cultural activities in every corner of the city for all to enjoy.
The museum has not yet found a replacement for Finkelpearl, but will be putting together an interim strategy in the coming weeks to start the search for a new executive director.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
