The following letter to the New York Times appeared in the July 4, 2012, edition.

To the Editor:

In “For Arts Institutions, Thinking Big Can Be Suicidal” (Arts pages, June 28), Carroll Joynes, a founder and senior fellow at the Cultural Policy Center of the University of Chicago, refers to the American Folk Art Museum, saying it “was a wonderful museum and they self-destructed.” I can assure you that we are alive and well. A museum is more than a building; its heart and soul—its exhibitions, its programs, and its collection—are its mission. A key part of our reinvigorated mandate is to “get the art out there,” and our collection is on view in three simultaneous installations: Jubilation/Rumination, at our flagship Lincoln Square location; Compass, which opened last month at the South Street Seaport Museum; and 14 major works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recently opened American Wing. Additionally, the museum has recently added three new trustees, eliminated its debt, and commenced a search for a new executive director. We offer numerous educational, artistic, and music events at Lincoln Square every week and are operating in the black on a yearly budget of about $3.5 million. To quote Mark Twain, reports of our death are greatly exaggerated. The American Folk Art Museum continues to play a vibrant, exciting, and important role in the cultural ecology of New York City.

Monty Blanchard
President, Board of Trustees
American Folk Art Museum, New York