(New York, May 9, 2023)—The Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the election of Musa Mayer as an Honorary Trustee. The election took place at the May 9 meeting of the Board and was announced by Candace K. Beinecke and Hamilton (“Tony”) E. James, Co-Chairs of the Museum’s Board of Trustees.
"It gives us great pleasure to welcome Musa Mayer to our Board,” said Board of Trustees Co-Chairs Beinecke and James. “Musa has been a tireless champion for the arts and a brilliant steward of the remarkable legacy of her father, Philip Guston. We look forward to collaborating with her on furthering The Met’s mission to reach audiences globally and locally.”
Mayer is the President of The Guston Foundation (philipguston.org), which she founded in 2013 to share the work and further the legacy of her father, painter Philip Guston (1913–1980). Originally trained as a mental health counselor, Mayer became recognized as an advocate for patients with metastatic breast cancer. While she was a student at Columbia University pursuing an MFA in writing, she published her first book, Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston (1988). In addition to curating exhibitions, she has authored several more books and catalogues on Guston in recent years.
In December 2022, Mayer and The Met announced a transformative promised gift of 220 works by Guston from the personal collection of Mayer, positioning The Met as the largest repository of works by the iconic American painter. At the same time, Musa and Thomas Mayer made a major gift of $10 million to establish The Philip Guston Endowment Fund, which will be used to support initiatives related to the collection, advance scholarship regarding Guston, and further the artist’s legacy. The Mayers are also Trustees of the Guston Fund as well as donors to the American Academy in Rome, establishing in 2019 the Philip Guston Rome Prize in Visual Art. In 2019 Mayer also endowed a fellowship at MacDowell in memory of her mother, the poet and artist Musa McKim Guston. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer have been members of The Met’s Champion’s Circle since 2001.
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May 9, 2023
Contact: Alexandra Kozlakowski
Communications@metmuseum.org
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