Art Miami Loses Major Sponsor

Art Miami will celebrate its 20th anniversary this December, but it will do so without a major sponsor. BlackRock, a tough-sounding investment firm that manages upward of $1 trillion in assets, decided it didn't want to send anymore money Art Miami's way, according to Lindsay Pollack. BlackRock is the largest money manager...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

September 1, 2009

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Art Miami will celebrate its 20th anniversary this December, but it will do so without a major sponsor.

BlackRock, a tough-sounding investment firm that manages upward of $1 trillion in assets, decided it didn't want to send anymore money Art Miami's way, according to Lindsay Pollack.

BlackRock is the largest money manager in the world, but ArtInfo speculates the move might have to do with PR and public perception.

"Some believe the financial industry's desire is to disassociate itself from events considered too closely tied to the luxury sector. Like museums, art fairs have struggled to find sponsors in an economic environment in which companies around the world are reevaluating their spending," speculates ArtInfo.

Of course, in some views, "art" shouldn't be that closely associated "luxury" anyway, but the fairs and parties that pop up around Miami and the Beach in December are the epitome of art as luxury. Too bad that association seems to be biting the art world in the ass.

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