Ronald Perelman donates $75 million to World Trade Center arts complex

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Ronald Perelman donates $75 million for arts complex at World Trade Center site | Businessman Ronald Perelman has announced that he is to donate $75 million to the establishment of a performing arts centre on the site of the World Trade Center, reports the New York Times. Perelman’s donation has revived plans for the centre, which was a crucial part of architect Daniel Liebeskind’s masterplan for the site, but has run into difficulties since reconstruction began.

Liverpool Biennial site damaged in suspected arson attack | A venue that was due to play host to an event at Liverpool Biennial has been badly damaged in a ‘suspicious’ blaze, reports the Liverpool Echo. The Sawmill, located in the city’s Wolstenholme Square, had been earmarked to show Turner Prize winning artist Mark Leckey’s new film Dream English Kid, a spectacle which has since had to be relocated to the Blade Factory at Camp and Furnace before the Biennial begins next week. Police have since confirmed that the fire on Friday night was started deliberately.

Thomas Borgmann donates 600 works to Stedelijk Museum | German collector Thomas Borgmann has donated over 600 works of art to the Stedelijk Museum, describing the institution as a ‘natural home’ for them. According to The Art Newspaper, the donation includes work by Wolfgang Tillmans, Cerith Wyn Evans, and Lucy Mackenzie, as well as the complete canon of Canadian artist Jack Goldstein’s 16mm films from the 1970s and 1980s.

Italian consumer group accuses Christo of wasting taxpayers’ money | Codacons, an Italian consumer rights group, has described Christo’s ‘Floating Piers’ installation on Lake Iseo as ‘an unreasonable waste of public money’, and is filing an official complaint to the local authority’s consumer watchdog. ‘We want to know how much taxpayers’ money has been spent on a project which, until now, seems to have generated enormous publicity for the artist without bringing direct benefits to local entities and citizens,’ Codacons announced in a statement. Since opening, the exhibit has attracted more than 250,000 visitors.

Rauschenberg Foundation announces 2016 Artist as Activist fellowships | The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has named the recipients of this year’s Artist as Activist fellowship programme, a two year grant intended to help artists and organisations whose work highlights social concerns. Fellowships have been awarded to Maria Gaspar, The Graduates, Titus Kaphar, Los Angeles Poverty Department, Jeremy Robins/Echoes of Incarceration, Favianna Rodriguez, Paul Rucker, El Sawyer, Jackie Sumell, and Shontina Vernon.