How Is Arts Patronage Changing?
5/21/202638 min
During fair week in New York in mid-May, Andrew Russeth had the high pleasure of moderating a panel about the state of arts philanthropy at TEFAF New York. Joining him on stage at the Park Avenue Armory were two leading figures in American patronage, Sarah Arison and Michi Jigarjian. Arison was named president of the board of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2024 at the age of only 39, making her the youngest person to ever hold that position. The president of the Arison Arts Foundation, she also chairs the board of YoungArts and serves on a variety of boards, including those of MoMA PS1 and American Ballet Theatre. Jigarjian is CEO of Work of Art Holdings and a partner at 7G Group. She is the force behind the culturally rich Rockaway Hotel out in Queens, and for 15 years led the Baxter St at CCNY as its president. A first-generation Mexican American, she is on the boards of the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA PS1. During the panel, which was titled “Who Supports Art Now? Patronage in a Shifting Cultural Landscape,” Arison and Jigarjian charted how arts philanthropy has changed in recent decades and described how they and their peers are leading institutions and supporting artists in a period of tremendous uncertainty—and potential.
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First 90 secondsSarah Arison· Guest0:00
[gentle music] Board members really want to be engaged. They want to use whatever skills they have to help the organization. They know staff from obviously executive leadership, but all the way down. And I think there's an open communication that probably was not there before. Definitely wasn't there before.
Andrew Russeth· Host0:17
[upbeat music] I'm Andrew Russeth, and this is The Art Angle, a podcast by Artnet News. During Fair Week in New York in mid-May, I had the high pleasure of moderating a panel about the state of arts philanthropy at TEFAF New York. Joining me on stage at the Park Avenue Armory were two leading figures in American patronage, Sarah Arison and Michi Jigarjian. Arison was named president of the board of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2024 at the age of only 39, making her the youngest person to ever hold that position. The president of the Arison Arts Foundation, she also chairs the board of YoungArts and serves on a variety of boards, including those of MoMA PS1 and American Ballet Theatre. Jigarjian is CEO of Work of Art Holdings and a partner at Seven G Group. She's the force behind the culturally rich Rockaway Hotel out in Queens, and for 15 years led Baxter Street at CCNY as its president. A first-generation Mexican American, she's on the boards of the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA PS1. During