Whitney Museum suspends programme after dispute

After a clash between students who attempted to stage performance art in support of the Palestinian cause and administrators who said the event would have violated the institution's anti-harassment policies, the Whitney Museum of American Art said on Monday that it was suspending its Independent Study Program.

- ZACHARY SMALL

The programme, which will not accept students next academic year, had built a reputation over more than 50 years for cultivating some of the biggest names in contemporary art, including artists such as Andrea Fraser, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Jenny Holzer. The Whitney said it expected to bring the programme back for the 2026-27 academic year.

In a statement about the suspension, the director of the New York museum, Scott Rothkopf, cited a “gap in leadership” and how “recent developments have underscored the need to further consider the nature of the relationship between the programme and the museum”.

Students, alumni and some administrators of the study programme had criticised the museum's decision in May to cancel a student performance about the plight of Palestinians called