NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio has appointed Tom Finkelpearl as the city’s new Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, and a fine choice it is! Tom is an artist, has been an arts administrator for years, is brilliant yet approachable, and brings a new perspective to the department having spent over two decades in the diverse borough of Queens, first at the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Museum (now part of MoMA), then at the Queens Museum, where he just oversaw a $60 million renovation that opened the museum more to its surrounding community.
As a population segment, African-Americans and people of Hispanic origin lag White-non-Hispanics and Asian-Americans in arts participation. Under Tom’s leadership the Queens Museum offered courses in Spanish, Mandarin and Korean. Tom certainly has the qualifications and experience to meet this challenge.
ARA worked with Tom on visitor research at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Museum in Queens. He is the only arts administrator I know to reside permanently and have a summer home – both in New York City (Lower Manhattan and The Rockaways). We look forward to working with Mr. Finkelpearl in his new leadership capacity.