Vote for Arthur Stein

The ballots have been sent out. Show your support of the League - take a minute to vote for Arthur Stein for President of The Art Students League of New York.

Note: Ballots are only mailed to "voting members." In order to be considered a “voting member” of The Art Students League of New York, you must be a league member who has voted in person during a prior election. If you have never voted in any election at The Art Students League of New York but would like to support Arthur Stein and The Committee for Good Governance, please make sure your membership is current (paid) and attend the voting meeting on December 7 at the league. 

The Committee Responds to Mr. Barbieri's Scurrilous Accusations

In his letter of November 1, Mr. Barbieri made grave accusations against the committee. Please allow me to set the record straight.

First, mea culpa: due to a production error, the message titled "TAKE BACK THE LEAGUE!" used an early draft which included the phrase "without competitive bidding" that was deleted from the message released for publication (you can read the approved message on our website committeeforgoodgovernance.blogspot.com). Mr. Barbieri says he and the board got competitive bids on the work and I take his word.

Sal Barbieri responds to the Committee

The following letter was mailed via US Postal Service to Art Students League members recently in response to the activities of The Committee for Good Governance.

November 1, 2011
Dear Members:

Recently the membership has received emails from a shadow organization called the "Committee for Good Governance."

News from The Committee

Arthur Stein is now an official candidate for President of the Board of Control of The Art Students League of New York. Voting Members* watch your mail for the 2012 ballot which will be distributed in a few weeks.  

As announced by the 2011 Board of Control on October 12, we applaud the board for successfully negotiating another three year contract with Ira Goldberg for the position of Director. 

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* In order to be considered a “voting member” of The Art Students League of New York, you must be a league member who has voted in person during a prior election. If you have never voted in any election at The Art Students League of New York but would like to support Arthur Stein and The Committee for Good Governance, please make sure your membership is current (paid) and attend the voting meeting on December 7 at the league. 

TAKE BACK THE LEAGUE!

Members of The Art Students League - 
this Wednesday, October 12 - say enough is enough
RISE UP AND TAKE BACK THE LEAGUE!
The President and the Board of Control are no longer working for the STUDENTS of the Art Students League. Operating in secrecy with disregard for members, the current President and Board of Control are out of control - letting contracts without competitive bidding, to themselves or their cronies, handing out positions and pay to former and current board members. This year, tell them ENOUGH. We want transparency and we deserve better governance! We want a clean Board of Control.

Under self-proclaimed President for Life Sal Barbieri, the Board of Control has hardened into a monster of conflicted interest shunning newcomers to preserve their fiefdom. In recent years, the President and Board of Control gave the Director permission to create NEW staff positions - positions that never before existed in the history of the Art Students League - and and staffed them with former board members without a search for candidates.

Beginning in 2010 and for the first time in League history, administrative and support staff compensation grew to more than 50% of total, more than the fees paid to instructors and models combined (historically, administrative and support payroll is about 33% of total). Current and former board members have accepted contracts worth tens of thousands of dollars from the league’s administration. Other Board of Control members have resigned before the end of their terms because they were uncomfortable with financial irregularities and the appearance of conflict of interest in matters under the board’s review. The work going on this fall to the entrance, estimated to cost $320,000, was initiated without an announcement to the membership. If the President can be so secretive with a $320,000 contract, what else is he hiding?

In recent years, the Board of Control has made broad appeals for members to join the board only to reject anyone with a pulse and select the few who will mutely agree to whatever the Director and the President says.

It’s time to tell the “President for Life” and the Board of Control enough: THROW THE BUMS OUT. YOU DO NOT NEED ANYONES CONSENT TO JOIN THE BOARD OF CONTROL. You only need to garner a majority of members’ votes and THE LEAGUE NEEDS YOU NOW. The COMMITTEE FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE may be able to help but you have to take the first step - join The Committee for Good Governance, attend the Art Students League members meeting on October 12th, nominate Arthur Stein for President of The Art Students League, and VOTE FOR A NEW PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF CONTROL.