Just weeks after welcoming the first class of students to the Vanderbilt University-New York City campus, the university is deepening its presence in the city through a transformative partnership with the storied Whitney Museum of American Art. The multi-year collaboration, made possible through philanthropic investment, will build on the strengths of both institutions to open new pathways and opportunities for students, faculty, alumni, artists and the broader community.
The partnership is an important milestone in the university's investment in the arts. It builds on a string of recent initiatives, including the university's participation in the Venice Biennale and the growth of the New York City campus. Together with the forthcoming Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design at Vanderbilt's San Francisco campus, these efforts reflect a deliberate expansion of opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, creative engagement and public programming that gives the Vanderbilt community new ways to learn from, work with and experience one of the nation's leading cultural institutions.
"This partnership with the Whitney reflects the ambitious, mission-driven approach Vanderbilt is taking to the arts," Vanderbilt Provost C. Cybele Raver said. "By connecting our students and faculty with the Whitney's extraordinary leadership, collections and expertise, we are creating possibilities for learning, scholarship and creative practice that extend well beyond the classroom. It is exactly the kind of collaboration we want to build-one that draws on the distinctive strengths of both institutions and expands what our community can discover and create."
For the Whitney, the partnership advances its long-standing role as a cultural anchor on Manhattan's West Side, extending its commitment to its neighbors and the surrounding downtown arts community. It also honors a distinctive historical connection between the two institutions. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, artist, patron and founder of the Whitney Museum, was the great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who founded Vanderbilt University in 1873. An early and ardent supporter of modern American artists at a time when their work received little institutional recognition, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney founded the museum in 1930 to provide artists with opportunities to exhibit their work and to ensure that the art of the United States would be collected, studied and celebrated. Nearly a century later, this new collaboration carries that connection forward by creating opportunities for new generations of students, scholars, artists and audiences.
"The Whitney is thrilled to welcome Vanderbilt as a new neighbor to one of the greatest arts districts anywhere in the world," said Scott Rothkopf, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. "This collaboration provides a new reciprocal model for how a museum can partner with a university community, including students, faculty, artists, alumni, and our community. We look forward to building a robust and lasting relationship between our institutions that expands Vanderbilt's access to the arts and artists in New York City and brings new ideas and perspectives into the Whitney from Vanderbilt's areas of academic excellence."
Vanderbilt faculty will have opportunities to collaborate with the Whitney, helping shape future programming and research. For students, the opportunity is meaningful and tangible: access to the Whitney's collection, internships, classes taught by the museum's instructors, public programming and experiences at one of the nation's leading museums-all less than a mile from the Vanderbilt University-New York City campus.
Inaugural Event
The partnership's inaugural event will be Nov. 10 and feature a panel discussion with emerging artists. Registration is open now. Additional programs and initiatives will be announced in the coming months.
