Released in 2018 and voted the best art book of the decade in 2019 by ARTnews, the full text of Andrea Fraser's 2016 in Museums, Money, and Politics is now available online.

2016 in Museums, Money, and Politics examines the intersection of electoral politics and private-nonprofit art institutions in the United States at a pivotal historical moment. In a massive volume that is both institutional critique and reference work, Andrea Fraser documents the reported political contributions made by trustees of more than 125 art museums, representing every state in the nation, in the 2016 election cycle. With campaigning that featured attacks on vulnerable populations, the vilification of the media and “cultural elites,” and calls to curtail civil rights and liberties, the 2016 election cycle and its aftermath transformed national politics. It was also the most expensive election to date in American history, with over $6.4 billion raised for presidential and congressional races combined. More than half of this money came from just a few hundred people—many of whom also support cultural institutions and serve on their boards.

2016 is organized like a telephone book. Contribution data is laid out alphabetically by name of donor. With this and other data filling more than 900 pages, the book offers a material representation of scale of the interface between cultural philanthropy and campaign finance in the United States. It also provides an unparalleled resource for exploring the politics of the museum world. 2016 includes an introduction by Andrea Fraser elaborating on the links connecting cultural philanthropy, campaign finance, and plutocracy; a section on each museum represented; and a section including data summaries and additional data. The book presents a powerful argument that supporting the arts must involve more than giving donations to museums; it must also include defending the values, social structures, and political institutions of an open, tolerant, just, and equitable society.

Andrea Fraser's 2016 in Museums, Money, and Politics, 2018, archival digital pigment print, 60 × 69 inches, edition of 12 + 3 AP’s will be on view in Your Patience Is Appreciated: An Inaugural Show at Marian Goodman Gallery Tribeca.

Now Online