–Public Events Blanket the City During Armory Arts Week –
A different neighborhood’s art community highlighted each night of the week


New York, February 19, 2009 - Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week. The Armory Show has taken this opportunity to launch its first ever series of public programming in celebration of the City’s unparalleled artistic communities in a different neighborhood each night. Events include special receptions, open studios, art tours, museum discounts, performances, panels, artist discussions and parties.

Armory Arts Week already attracts visitors from all over the world, as well as residents of New York City and the Tri-State area. According to a 2007 independent Economic Impact Study, of the 52,000 visitors to The Armory Show, 56 percent (29,000) were visitors to New York City; out-of-town visitors were comprised of 11,000 from other countries, 5,000 living in the suburbs of NYC, and 13,000 from elsewhere in the United States; and among all out-of-town visitors, 73 percent cited The Armory Show as their primary reason for being in New York City.

Some highlights of Armory Arts Week include open studios at The Studio Museum in Harlem on Tuesday, March 3rd during Uptown and Museum Mile Day; a tour of Selections Spring 2009 with exhibition curator Nina Katchadourian and exhibiting artists at The Drawing Center on March 5th on SoHo Night; a talk about works from the Citi Collection of Fine Art by Suzanne F.W. Lemakis, director and curator at the Henry DeFord III Gallery on March 6th, A Day In Queens; the grand opening of The Boiler, featuring an installation of Tavares Strachan’s “The Distance Between (Arctic Ice Project)," a 4.5 ton block of ice from the Arctic, displayed in a solar-powered glass freezer, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on a street that will be closed to traffic for a festive evening on March 7th; and a Sunday gallery walk in the Lower East Side beginning at the New Museum Lobby and featuring limited edition artist designed maps on March 8th.

For a full schedule of events, please visit www.armoryartsweek.com, and download a map and schedule at http://www.artupdate.com/armoryartsweek.pdf.

THE ARMORY SHOW DATES
VIP Preview: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Public Hours: Thursday, March 5 through Sunday, March 8, 2009

ABOUT THE ARMORY SHOW
The Armory Show is America's leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its eleven years, the fair has become an international institution. Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week.

ABOUT THE MMPI ART GROUP
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. manages a growing network of international art shows. Through the acquisition of The Armory Show in New York and Volta in Basel, Switzerland, MMPI is committed to the continued development and enhancement of its participation