The Art World to Re-endorse President Obama

Tags: Fundraisers, Politics

The Art World is again standing behind President Obama to show their support for his 2012 election. On 28 June, art dealer Paula Cooper will host a follow-up to her 2008 fundraiser at her gallery, with a guest list that includes some of the biggest names in the art industry: artists Brice Marden, Mark di Suvero, Cindy Sherman and Richard Serra; architect Frank Gehry; the collector Agnes Gund; the chief curator-at-large for MoMA, Kynaston McShine; and dealers Barbara Bertozzi Castelli and Roland Augustine are some of those expected to attend.

Though stereotypically aligned with the Democratic Party, many members of the art world  were less-than-pleased with the President Obama’s term after he cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and made questionable appointments to art positions in the administration.

However, certain acts of good will–a proposed a 5% increase in the arts budget, an expedited visa process for foreign artists, and a $1 million allocation to the Smart Power Program, to name a few–have generated enough satisfaction to support the President on his next endeavor.

Chuck Close, a member of the President’s Committee on Arts and the Humanities, has spoken up for the President, saying that “during a time of fiscal austerity,” “Obama must be re-elected.”

Obama Wins the Art World’s Support via The Art Newspaper

Photo courtesy AP