The Comics Journal’s Michael Dean writes a more in-depth piece on the recent announcement that MoCCA is merging with Society of Illustrators.
In a little more than a month, this radical transformation of MoCCA’s future went from a tentative germ of an idea to nearly a fait accompli. With the lease coming to an end July 31, a leisurely transition was not an option. Abramowitz closed the museum and canceled events before the deal with the Society was official enough to announce, which left many wondering if MoCCA was dead. Triangulating information from different sources, the Journal had learned of the acquisition and contacted Abramowitz for confirmation. Not wanting the story to leak piecemeal through the media, Abramowitz and Miller elected to send out a press release announcing the deal, even though negotiations were still under way. Even now, the transition is not official, because the lawyers have yet to sign off on the documents. That is expected to happen later this week, but because the Society and MoCCA are both nonprofits, their agreement won’t be truly approved until it has the blessing of the New York Board of Regents, a process that could take months.
I?m still feel like there is more to the story, but this has the most details I?ve seen so far.