Drawing Center to get $10 million

The art museum prevented from moving to the World Trade Center site because of objections raised about its art content, will be getting $10 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to find a new home elsewhere in Lower Manhattan.

The L.M.D.C., with the backing of Gov. George Pataki, last year selected the Drawing Center to move to the W.T.C., but when objections were raised about the center’s politically-charged art being in a museum adjacent to the W.T.C. memorial, Pataki demanded an “absolute guarantee” that curators would not offend family members of people killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The Soho-based center refused this summer and said it hoped to find a new home somewhere else.

George Negroponte, the museum’s president, was happy about the L.M.D.C. money. “This news will be very helpful as we continue in our relocation efforts Downtown,” he said in a prepared statement.

Stefan Pryor, L.M.D.C. president, said in a statement that the money “demonstrates our strong commitment to the arts. And it furthers our efforts of transforming the Lower Manhattan community into a 24/7 community to work, live and visit.”

He pointed to $50 million the agency has pledged for a performance art center across the street from the memorial and $45 million targeted for arts groups in Lower Manhattan — $10 million of which will go to the Drawing Center. The L.M.D.C. board is expected to approve the $10 million for the museum and announce details about the panel review process for the remaining $35 million in arts grants at its Nov. 10 meeting.

The WTC Memorial Foundation is responsible for raising the additional money needed to build the performance center, which is to be designed by Frank Gehry, but the foundation has no plans to begin raising money for that until it has $500 million to build the memorial.

—Josh Rogers

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