A French museum collides with New Jersey politics
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


A French museum collides with New Jersey politics
A rendering of Centre Pompidou x Jersey City. The Pompidou Center, which has opened several outposts far from its Paris home, plannned to open its first North American satellite in Jersey City. (via OMA via The New York Times).



NEW YORK, NY.- Plans to build an outpost of the Pompidou Center in the heart of Jersey City were put on hold after the New Jersey Legislature voted last week to rescind $24 million in funding for the Paris museum’s project.

Another $34 million in state and federal assistance for what would have been the Pompidou’s first satellite location in North America was also put in jeopardy by the vote.

Tim Sullivan, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, addressed a letter to museum officials saying the project had been called off.

“Due to the ongoing impact of COVID and multiple global conflicts on the supply chain, rising costs, an irreconcilable operating gap and the corresponding financial burdens it will create for New Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature has rescinded financial support,” Sullivan wrote, “leaving us to determine that this project is unfortunately no longer feasible.”

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a major supporter of the museum, blamed the cuts instead on his deteriorating relationship with Gov. Phil Murphy, who had supported the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City initiative when it was announced in 2021 as a way to attract tourists and New Yorkers to a rapidly developing neighborhood.

Fulop said the situation changed after he rescinded his support for Tammy Murphy, the governor’s wife, in the state’s Democratic primary to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, who is on trial on federal bribery charges. In March, Fulop pledged support for Rep. Andy Kim, saying his initial endorsement of Murphy was “wrong.”

“There is no question in my mind that this is directly related to my support of Andy Kim,” Fulop said of the state’s decision to withdraw funding. (Fulop is also running in next year’s governor’s race to replace Phil Murphy, who has reached his term limits.)

Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for the governor, referred to comments he made to reporters in April. “This has literally zero to do with any politics,” Murphy said.

Ben Dworkin, a professor of political science at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, said that although some public officials had questioned the Pompidou plan since its inception, the latest developments were a sign of the growing rift between the governor and mayor.

“It is a convenient point of battle,” said Dworkin, who called it “one more notch in an ongoing feud.”

While both the city and state agreed that the museum’s $176 million in construction costs would be fully funded by public money, they disagreed about the annual operating budget. The city said $19 million in annual expenses would be covered by ticketing, venue rentals, donations and a proposed tax on new buildings in the area. But the state, which recently passed a $56.7 billion budget, viewed that amount as a regular deficit.

“As we sit here now, we still love the project,” Murphy told reporters in April, “but we can’t marry ourselves to a $19 million deficit forever and always.”

Records from the governor’s office showed that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority had been questioning the project’s feasibility in early March, discussing the possibility of withdrawing the funding.

“From the top of the administration and down, this is something where we think the idea is an extraordinary idea,” Sullivan said in an interview. “Where the rubber hits the road has been the math on the money. That’s just not working out, unfortunately.”

In a letter to the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, Michael Greco, deputy executive director at New Jersey’s State Department, asked the city to return an additional $6 million in funding allocated to the museum.

“Because the project is no longer viable and none of the disbursed funds have been expended, we ask that you return the funds to the state,” Greco wrote.

The Pompidou outpost was intended to become a jewel of Journal Square, a section of Jersey City that has received more than $1 billion in private and public development deals in recent years. In 2021, the Fulop administration hired the architecture firm OMA to transform a 58,000-square-foot former transport hub, known as the Pathside Building, into a cultural center.

The satellite was originally expected to open there in 2024 — a year before the museum’s Paris headquarters closed for renovations — but an economic impact report about the museum that was commissioned by Jersey City this year said the target date was 2027.

While state and federal agencies would have provided much of the outpost’s funding, the museum’s galleries would have benefited from access to the Paris museum’s collection of more than 140,000 modern and contemporary artworks. (The Pompidou already has locations in Belgium and China, with others planned for Saudi Arabia and South Korea.)

In a statement Monday, a spokesperson for the Pompidou Center said the museum “remains committed to ongoing discussions with the mayor of Jersey City to jointly determine the project’s future direction.”

Fulop said his team was looking at alternative locations for the museum in Journal Square, but sticking to the original plan was currently impossible.

“This would have been a cultural center that enhanced the entire region,” the mayor said, “but it’s not possible without the governor and the state as partners.”

Several patrons have recently come forward to say they had planned to donate money for the museum. They include sculptor Sassona Norton and Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor whose company has helped build a skyscraper in Journal Square.

“The role that great cultural institutions like the Pompidou play in urban life is enormous, and bringing a museum of that stature and magnitude with its world-class collection to Jersey City would be wonderful,” Spitzer said.

But some local residents were skeptical about the Pompidou’s future because of the high costs of running a museum.

Amy Wilson, an artist who lives near Journal Square, recalled that the Jersey City Museum closed in 2010 because of financial difficulties and thin support from philanthropists.

“I don’t want to have a second museum fail,” Wilson said. “That would be absolutely devastating to anyone in the arts community in Jersey City if we became the place where museums come to die.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

July 4, 2024

A French museum collides with New Jersey politics

Station Independent Projects, Toronto opens 'At Face Value' curated by Robert Curcio and Leah Oates

Xavier Hufkens opens Esther Kläs' fourth exhibition with the gallery

Exhibition at Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona focuses on the life and work of Mari Chordà

Newly discovered letter of Thomas Jefferson shows him struggling to pay household expenses while president

Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery celebrates James Baldwin's 100th anniversary

David Zwirner presents an exhibition of new paintings by Belgian artist Michaël Borremans

New Finding Committee of documenta 16 appointed

Behind the curtain at the Supreme Court

Galerie Xippas will present for the first time in Switzerland the work of artist Mathieu Cherkit

My first trip to Norway, with AI as a guide

Art Fund and Jerwood Foundation launch new fund supporting artist commissions

At American Ballet Theater, a new swan takes flight

This student is undertaking a world record - will she succeed?

Kunsthaus Graz presents Azra Akšamija: Sanctuary

Design Museum opens Barbie exhibition, featuring rare first edition doll and 250 objects

Shay Youngblood, influential Black author and playwright, dies at 64

'Dämon: El Funeral de Bergman' brings electricity to Avignon

Brooke Shields has worn many hats. Now she's a labor boss.

At 100, the intergalactic jazz hero Marshall Allen is still on a mission

There's trouble right here in Tap City

'My Lady Jane' asks: 'What if history were different?'

Following a river through the heart of the Berkshires

Textie integrates artificial intelligence to help you work with digital images

The Creative Masterminds Behind the GenAI and Global Digital Asset Summit: Lin Zheng's Leadership

The Evolution of Online Slot Machines

HOW BRIAN WEST BECAME A SPORTS ART PAINTER??

The Art of Type Design: Exploring the Process and Types of Fonts

LinkPlacement: Enhancing SEO Strategies with Premium Backlinks

Celebrate Every Occasion with Personalized Custom Stickers

Understanding the World of Replica Watches

How to Choose the Perfect Zinc Anklet for Your Style




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful