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# Week in Review: Philly Mayor Proposes to Eliminate Arts Budget; Museum Expansions Continue in LA
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-philly-mayor-proposes-to-eliminate-arts-budget-museum-expansions-continue-in-la/
- Published: 2020-05-15T11:00:15.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:56.000Z
- Description: Also, the New York Public Library acquired the archive of avant-garde dancer Martha Graham, and more.
- Author: Cassie Packard
- Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:41 (2019, 2020, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/05/photo-by-jessi-melcer-_c_-2020-the-fabric-workshop-and-museum.jpg)

The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philidelphia (Photo by Jessi Melcer)

*Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://hyperallergic.com/newsletters?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.*

As Pennsylvania cultural grants are rescinded, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny [introduced a 2021 budget proposal that totally eliminates the city’s $4.4 million allowance for the arts](https://hyperallergic.com/philadelphia-arts/). Over 12,000 people have signed a petition in protest of the eliminated budget.

Jill Nelson, an award-winning writer and journalist, was [arrested by NYPD officers for scribbling “Trump=Plague”](https://hyperallergic.com/journalist-arrested-in-manhattan-for-writing-trumpplague-in-chalk/) on a boarded-up storefront near her house in Riverside Drive in Manhattan. “I frankly feel, as an African American woman and a person of color, that it’s open season on us in every way,” she told Hyperallergic. “From the disproportionate number of people who are dying of COVID-19, people with the worst healthcare, people who are doing the most vulnerable jobs, to young people beaten down for allegedly not social distancing.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/05/img_5656-copy-scaled-e1589402249345.jpg)

Variations on a photo by the author (clockwise from top left): no filter; after Wassily Kandinsky; after Shoen Uemura; after Paul Signac; after Yayoi Kusama; after Roy Lichtenstein. (created using Google Arts & Culture app)

In a new collaboration with the Getty, the Google Arts & Culture app lets you [remake any photo as a work by van Gogh, Cézanne, Kahlo, Kusama, and other renowned artists](https://hyperallergic.com/transform-the-world-around-you-into-famous-artworks-with-this-app/).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/05/jacksmith_no-president_12-scaled-e1589221481346.jpg)

Still from Jack Smith, “No President” (1967-1970), 16mm black and white film (copyright Jack Smith Archive; courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels)

With its annual fundraiser canceled, Visual AIDS [launched a new online platform, “Not Over,”](https://hyperallergic.com/visual-aids-launches-new-online-platform-not-over/) to encourage donations. The site features rare videos and performances by multi-generational artists including the late Jack Smith.

In California, all construction — including museum expansions — has been categorized as essential. While much of the art world is standing still, [expansions at LACMA, the Hammer, and other museums are prompting both questions and criticisms](https://hyperallergic.com/la-museums-continue-construction-and-expansion-projects-despite-pandemic/).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/05/staff105082-web-hires-scaled-e1589384237274.jpg)

Will Thompson, “untitled” (2020), oil on board, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4 x 2 inches

[Hauser & Wirth’s new online exhibition, Homegrown](https://hyperallergic.com/homegrown/), celebrates the artists among its staff. All proceeds will go directly to the artists; an additional 10% of gross profits will benefit the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization.

A Chinese news agency released a [propagandistic cartoon](https://hyperallergic.com/china-lego-animation/) to herald its success at combating the coronavirus — that is admittedly entertaining.

## Transactions

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/05/cly015.jpg)

Bertram Ross, Gene McDonald, Helen McGehee, and Martha Graham in Clytemnestra. Photograph by Martha Swope. courtesy the Martha Graham Dance Company.)

The archive of avant-garde dancer **Martha Graham** [found a new home in the **New York Public Library of the Performing Arts**](https://hyperallergic.com/archive-of-martha-grahams-life-acquired-by-new-york-public-library/). Ranging from audio and film recordings to choreography notes and correspondence, the archive includes tintype family portraits; photographs by **Barbara Morgan** and **Soichi Sunami**; and set drawings by **Isamu Noguchi**.

**Swann Galleries** held [a successful sale of African Americana prints and manuscripts](https://www.culturetype.com/2020/05/10/auction-results-swanns-first-sale-since-covid-19-shutdown-features-printed-manuscript-african-americana-and-art-related-ephemera/?ref=hyperallergic.com). The sale was led by an 1848 broadside offering a monetary reward for the return of three runaway slaves; this historical document sold for $37,500, rocketing over its presale estimate of $7,000–10,000\. A map of Harlem night clubs made by E. Simms Campbell in 1933 also significantly surpassed expectations, selling for $27,500 against an estimate of $10,000–15,000.

The **Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens** in San Marino has [acquired the archive of **Gilbert, Florence, and Leslee See Leong**](https://www.huntington.org/news/huntington-acquires-leong-papers?ref=hyperallergic.com), members of one of the earliest high-profile Chinese American families in Los Angeles. The collection features architectural drawings, hand-drawn menus, portrait photographs, and passports.

At the behest of her late son and estate manager Lin Jammet, 29 sculptures, drawings, and prints by English sculptor **Elisabeth Frink** [joined the collection of the **Sainsbury Centre in Norwich**](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/sainsbury-centre-acquires-major-works-by-sculptor-elisabeth-frink-while-in-lockdown?ref=hyperallergic.com). Notable works include large-scale sculptures *Mirage I* and *Mirage II* (1969), which were inspired by flamingos, and the *Goggle Heads* series (1967–69), imposing busts of men sporting goggles.

## This Week in the Art World

The **Design Trust for Public Space** appointed **Matthew Clarke** as its new Executive Director. | [Via press release](https://resnicow.com/client-news/matthew-clarke-appointed-executive-director-design-trust-public-space?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Define American Immigrant Artist Fellowship** announced its 2020 Fellows. | [Define American](https://www.defineamerican.com/arts?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Baltimore Museum of Art** appointed **Kathy Rothkopf** to the newly endowed position of the Anne and Ben Cone Memorial Director of the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/baltimore-museum-of-art-gifted-3-5-million-to-endow-matisse-studies-center-directorship-83052?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Allan Schwartzman**, Sotheby’s chair of fine art, has left the auction house to become an independent consultant. | [Art Market Monitor](https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2020/05/12/allan-schwartzman-to-transition-out-of-sothebys-in-advisory-reorganization/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The inaugural **M+ Museum’s** **Sigg Prize** was awarded to Hong Kong-based artist **Samson Young.** | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/samson-young-sigg-prize-1202687003/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

Los Angeles and Tucson-based photographer **Mark McKnight** has joined the roster at Los Angeles gallery **Park View/Paul Soto**. | Via email announcement

Hong Kong-based photographer **Kam Wa Magus Yuen** is the winner of the **Hong Kong Human Rights Arts Prize**. | [*The Art Newspaper*](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/human-rights-arts-prize-winner-in-hong-kong?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation** awarded the 2019 Biennial Grants to 20 artists. | [ARTFIX Daily](http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/1175-louis-comfort-tiffany-foundation-announces-recipients-of-2019-bie?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Phillips Hong Kong** announced that **Jonathan Crockett** has been appointed the Chairman of Asia. | Via email announcement

**Lauren Richman** is the new Assistant Curator of Photography at Indiana University’s **Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art**. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/eskenazi-museum-of-art-appoints-lauren-richman-assistant-curator-of-photography-83059?ref=hyperallergic.com)

## In Memoriam

**Satish Gujral** (1925–2020), Indian artist and architect | [*The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/arts/satish-gujral-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite** (1927–2020), “Monuments Woman” and educator | [*The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/us/motoko-fujishiro-huthwaite-dead-coronavirus.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

 **Abraham Palatnik** (1928–2020), Brazilian kinetic artist | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/abraham-palatnik-dead-coronavirus-1202686637/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Little Richard** (1932–2020), “King and Queen” of rock & roll | [NPR](https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/523627004/little-richard-obituary?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Jaquelin Taylor Robertson** (1933–2020), architect and urbanist | [*Architectural Digest*](https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/jaquelin-taylor-robertson-elder-statesman-of-american-architecture-has-died?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Alan Shestack** (1938–2020), former director of the National Gallery of Art, D.C. | [CultureGrrl](https://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2020/04/alan-shestack-81-old-master-prints-scholar-generous-mentor-thrice-museum-director.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Thomas Sokolowski** (1950–2020), former director of the Andy Warhol Museum | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/thomas-sokolowski-dead-1202686266/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Paul L. Vasquez** (1962–2020), “Double Rainbow Guy” | [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/11/us/paul-vasquez-double-rainbow-death-trnd/index.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Betty Wright** (1953–2020), American Soul and R&B singer | [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9374947/betty-wright-iconic-soul-and-rb-singer-dies-at-66?ref=hyperallergic.com)