The Art Students League Appoints Michael Rips Executive Director

NEW YORK, NY – November 28, 2017 – The Art Students League of New York today announced that Michael Rips has been named Executive Director. In his appointment to Executive Director, Mr. Rips succeeds Ira Goldberg, who retired in January 2017. 

Mr. Rips brings a diverse set of skills and experiences to the 143-year-old institution. A longtime friend of the Art Students League, he is a collector, patron, and advocate for the arts. As Executive Director of the Arts Students League, Mr. Rips will continue his life-long work as a champion for the visual arts, and will further amplify the League’s important, and growing, contribution to visual arts education. 

An attorney by profession, Mr. Rips is a leading expert on artists’ rights, copyright, and intellectual property issues, and has represented many artists, museums, and foundations. He was a driving force in the founding of Dia:Beacon, the museum that helped transform the Hudson Valley into a vibrant arts destination, and has donated works from his collection to the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. A graduate of Princeton University, Oxford University, and George Washington University Law School, Mr. Rips writes frequently on the arts and is the author of two works of literary nonfiction. 

Art Students League Board President Ellen Taylor stated, “Michael is a uniquely talented individual who understands art, artists, creativity, nonprofits, fundraising, and the law. He is known and respected by many of America’s most distinguished artists and civic and cultural leaders. Having worked to successfully reinvigorate the League in recent years, we look forward to having Michael bring our institution to even greater heights.” 

Mr. Rips added, “My association with the League goes back many years, and I’m truly honored to have the opportunity to advocate for the teaching and creation of fine art and to work with some of the best instructors in the country, if not the world.” 

Mr. Rips joins The Art Students League at a time of rising enrollment and financial strength. In the last year, students came from 47 states and 40 countries. Applications for League membership are the strongest in 17 years, and the school’s endowment is at an all-time high. 

The League is in the midst of celebrating the 125th anniversary of its landmark home, the American Fine Arts Society Building, with A Landmark Exhibition: An Alliance of Artists and Patrons on 57th Street, on view through December 4. As part of the anniversary celebration, the League will be hosting ST[art]UP, a two-day extravaganza of parties and open house events, from March 2-3, 2018. 

About Michael Rips 

Michael Rips has lived his life with a passion for the arts. He is a collector, patron, arts advocate, promoter, and author. He is a friend to many artists and the spouse of Sheila Berger, a painter and sculptor. 

Mr. Rips has built an extensive collection of works of African and contemporary art. He and his wife have donated work from their collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha. 

Mr. Rips is an attorney by profession. He has been a special council in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson, and has clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. His clients have included artists James Rosenquist and David Salle, the Queens Museum, the Estate of Dan Flavin, and the Dia Art Foundation. He also played a leading role in the founding of Dia:Beacon in Beacon, New York. 

Mr. Rips has represented clients before the Supreme Court, and is a leading expert on artists’ rights, copyright, and intellectual property issues. He has represented many artists, museums, and foundations, is the author of two works of literary nonfiction, and is a contributor to The New York Times. He is a graduate of Princeton University, Oxford University, and George Washington University Law School. 

About the Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is one of the world’s premier art schools. It was founded in 1875 by artists, for artists, to provide affordable atelier-based art education of the highest quality. Many renowned artists have trained or taught at the League, including Jackson Pollock, Norman Rockwell, Mark Rothko, Georgia O’Keeffe, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson, James Rosenquist, Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence, Frederic Remington, and Ai Weiwei. Classes, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and professional development programs continue the League’s legacy of supporting students who intend to make art a profession, and cultivating a spirit of community among artists. Today, thousands of aspiring and emerging artists study drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media at the League. 

Learn more at www.theartstudentsleague.org.