NEW YORK CITY – The Art Fair Company is taking over the American Antiques Show (TAAS) from the financially ailing American Folk Art Museum, potentially changing the complexion and dynamic of New York’s Americana Week in January.
Afanews.com spoke to Mark Lyman, president of the Art Fair Company, from his office in Chicago late last week, hours after an agreement was reached. Directed by Lyman and his partner, chief executive officer Michael Franks, the Art Fair Company produces the Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) contemporary design and decorative arts shows in Chicago, New York and Santa Fe; the Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art; and the new Spring Show NYC, organized by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America.
Afanews: What are your plans for the American Antiques Show?
ML: We want to revitalize it. The American Antiques Show has been very good, but we want to incorporate some new disciplines, such as design and photography. We will bring the show up to the Modernist era. We are very interested in adding paintings dealers while still being respectful of the show’s traditional base, which is folk art and American antiques.
Afanews: Is it your goal to make the show more youthful?
ML: Youthful is a key phrase. We are interested in the spirit and energy of things. We want to bring in new clients and present material in a new way. We will upgrade the show’s look and sensibility. It will be very dramatic, charming, interesting and clear.
Afanews: What motivated the management change?
ML: The museum makes money on the opening night party but the production of the show itself has not been gainful. We are professionals and work very hard at what we do. On the logistics side, we own all of our walls, which are hard, as well as our lights. They are in a warehouse in southeast Michigan. The Art Fair Company is a national organization with a national marketing effort.
Afanews: How does the museum benefit from the new arrangement?
ML: The agreement is that the Art Fair Company has all the financial responsibility to produce the show. It is our show, but we have committed to have the museum be the opening night beneficiary. The museum will receive every penny of profit from opening night.
Afanews: Who is involved in the planning and preparations?
ML : The most important thing that we are doing is organizing an exhibitor advisory board. We got to know two American Antiques Show exhibitors, Frank Maresca and Carl Hammer, through the Intuit Show. Frank and Carl are already involved, but we also want to bring in others who have been an important part of the American Antiques Show, plus new people. We hope that the exhibitors are excited about it.
Afanews: Why is the Art Fair Company taking this on?
ML: It is a very good opportunity for us and we are excited about working with the dealers.
The new show will open with a preview benefitting the American Folk Art Museum on Wednesday, January 18, and continue through January 22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 West 18th Street in New York.
The New York Times reported that the museum is currently in default on nearly $32 million worth of bonds that it issued to construct its building on West 53rd Street. The museum’s director, Maria Ann Conelli, last week announced that she will leave the museum in July to return to academia.
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