IN MEMORY OF BILL FAGALY
— in cooperation with LYNDA BENGLIS —
is honored to establish the
ARCAthens Founding President Bill Fagaly’s unexpected passing on May 17 saddened the art communities in New Orleans, New York City, and beyond. His passion for supporting the arts and promoting cross-cultural respect and understanding was legendary.
Greek-American artist Lynda Benglis’s deep love for Greece and lifelong, loving friendship with Bill Fagaly inspired her to preserve Bill Fagaly’s memory by supporting one of his most beloved causes, ARCAthens.
The Bill Fagaly Fund For the Future memorial fund will be used to realize Bill’s dream for ARCAthens, to provide opportunity and support to Visual Artists, Curators, and Scholars to further their research by fostering international dialogue, cooperation, and understanding between Greece and the USA.
Bill Fagaly at Lynda’s opening at Storm King
Lynda Benglis
(Photo: Sarah Lee for the The Guardian)
During his 50-year tenure with the New Orleans Museum of Art, Bill created over ninety exhibitions. Bill also organized shows for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, and the Museum of American Folk Art (MAFA) in New York City. In 1976, he co-founded the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. In addition, Bill served on many Boards and, as the first president of the board of ARCAthens, was linked closely to the organization’s inception several years ago.
ARCAthens is non-profit organization working between the Bronx and Athens, Greece, dedicated to hosting visual artists and curators from all parts of the world to live and create in both cities—thereby facilitating a diverse influx of expression, production, and learning in two remarkable communities brimming with creative energy. Our Virtual Programming explores new ways of building international dialogue through creative persons in both locations.
Published July 3, 2021
in the Arts Section of The New York Times
By Roberta Smith
When William A. Fagaly was a graduate student in art history at Indiana University in the early 1960s, the professor in his area of concentration nicknamed him Intrepid. That pleased Mr. Fagaly, although he never understood how the word applied to him.
One reason may have been that the professor, Roy Sieber, was the first person in the United States to earn a doctorate in African art history and a progenitor of the field; Mr. Fagaly was one of his first students. Dr. Sieber would apply the nickname to subsequent students,… [Click here to read more]
In Memory of Bill Fagaly
To make your memorial contribution via credit card, start by selecting the amount you wish to donate or enter a custom amount. Click DONATE NOW and enter your credit card info.
To make your memorial contribution via check, please make it payable to ARC Athens, Inc. and include Bill’s name in the memo line as shown in the sample below. In order for us to send you a donation receipt for your records, please provide a valid return address along with your contribution.
Our mailing address is as follows:
ARC Athens, Inc.
217 E 70th Street, #801
New York, NY 10021
ARC Athens Inc. is a New York charitable corporation, exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Learn more about ARCAthens
We are thankful to the following supporters for their generous contributions made in the memory of Bill Fagaly
Up to $999
Michelle Coffey
Phyllis Galembo
Alexa Georges
Peter Kirkiles
MAGGIE LAM
Miranda Lash
Mahy Polymeropoulos
Bob Roth
$1,000 – $9,999
Wayne Amedee
Jan Aronson
John Bullard
Aristides Logothetis
Maria Vrachnos
David Workman
$10,000 and up
Lynda Benglis
Susan Brennan
The Helis Foundation
Gregory Holt