Donations Save American Folk Art Museum

The board of New York's American Folk Art Museum agreed on Wednesday evening to keep the institution operating from its current Lincoln Square location following the last-minute help of donations from trustees and the Ford Foundation.

Financial woes had left the museum with the decision as to whether to keep its 7,000-piece collection intact, or disperse works to other institutions.

With the cash infusion of an undisclosed amount, the museum will move forward with a strategy to increase visibility, expand its brand recognition, loan to other New York institutions, and mount traveling loan exhibitions.

“We are confident that we’re embarking on a prudent course with the facilities that we have and the staff that we have,” Edward Blanchard, who was elected the museum’s new president on Wednesday, said in the New York Times. “I think we’re going to do some very exciting things.”

A benefit for the museum will take place in January with the opening night of a new art and antiques fair organized by the Art Fair Company. From January 18 to 22, 2012, at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street,  the new fair will take the place of The American Antiques Show (TAAS), formerly organized by the American Folk Art Museum.