Surprise! US Pavilion Needs More Cash to Ship Works Home
Commissioner Jenni Parido sent a letter to donors pleading for "urgent funding" for deinstallation and shipping as the Venice Biennale comes to an end.
With less than a month left until the 61st Venice Biennale closes on November 22, the United States pavilion commissioner Jenni Parido has pleaded for additional donations to ship Alma Allen's sculptures out of Italy.
This week, the New York Times reviewed a letter by Parido, who founded the American Arts Conservancy (AAC) and commissioned Allen's exhibition in Venice. She told potential donors that the Trump administration-aligned arts nonprofit was “facing an urgent funding need associated with the final deinstallation and safe return of the artworks to the United States.”
The time-sensitive fundraising effort falls in line with Parido's financial model for this year's Biennale presentation. After months of opacity surrounding the selection process and funding ventures for the pavilion, Parido told Hyperallergic in April that Allen's exhibition, Call Me the Breeze, received no “corporate or foundation funding,” and that it was facilitated through the “generous support of private citizens who believe in the importance of American artists and cultural exchange.” The AAC also had an online donations portal to help fund the pavilion ahead of the Biennale's opening in May.
