Tom Finkelpearl Appointed NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner
New York City Mayor de Blasio today appointed Tom Finkelpearl as Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs. A sculptor by training, he most recently served as executive director of the Queens Museum, where he completed a major expansion that doubled the size of the museum. Finkelpearl began his career in arts management at Long Island City’s PS 1 Contemporary Art Center in 1982, which he joined as a public affairs officer, and then went on to organize a number of major exhibitions. In 1990, he joined the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs as Director of the Percent for Art Program, overseeing more than 100 public art projects across all five boroughs.
After serving as Executive Director of Programs at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine from 1996 to 1999, Finkelpearl returned to PS 1 as deputy director, where he helped manage its 2000 merger with MoMA. He became executive director of the Queens Museum in 2002.
Finkelpearl graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University and received his Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College. He has taught courses on socially engaged art and community involvement in cultural institutions at Queens College, New York University, and the Rhode Island School of Design. A native of the Boston area, Finkelpearl is married to Eugenie Tsai, the contemporary art curator at the Brooklyn Museum.