Behind the Scenes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The winds of change are blowing through New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. This bastion of cultural tradition has recently embarked on multiple paths of transformation: the last few years’ crowd-pleasing shows with cutting-edge contemporary artists have energized its roof garden and facade; the brand new Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, designed by Thai architect Kulapat Yantrasast, creates greater visibility for holdings of African, ancient American and Oceanian art; and Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has been tapped to design another new wing, which will double the size of the museum’s modern and contemporary galleries.

This is not your grandmother’s Met anymore.

Hannah Howe

Public-facing ambitions aside, the Met has signalled this new chapter with an initiative to address the future of philanthropy. The freshly formed Vanguard Council consists of 37 members between the ages of 25 and 45, each personally invited by the museum to have an input on programming. ‘This is really an experiment for the museum,’ explains Hannah Howe, the museum’s deputy chief development officer. ‘This is not your grandmother’s Met anymore.’ The committee, she thinks, ‘reflects the spirit of the current period of transformation and the support for dynamic emerging talent’.

Co-chaired by tennis legend Venus Williams, financiers Arielle Patrick and Ben Black, and art advisor Sophia Cohen, the Vanguard Council includes prominent names in tech, finance, health and entertainment as well as the art world. Membership is not exclusive to art collectors and, although a large portion of the list resides in New York, this is not a prerequisite. The in-person experience, however, is the initiative’s main promise. Private events in and outside the Met bring the group together a few times a month and help them contextualize the museum’s programming.

Besides private collection visits and early viewings of upcoming shows, benefits include access to VIP experiences at global art fairs and invitations to institutional blockbusters such as the Venice Biennale. Meetings with leaders from various museum departments, including conservation, audience engagement, curation and the board of trustees, offer behind-the-scenes insight on operations, enabling council members better to grasp the manifold efforts required to keep the doors open. The most influential huddle, however, is April’s Vanguard Council Awards meeting and dinner, during which members vote on where to funnel their financial support. Different departments present their ideas, which can range from new exhibition concepts to programming for planned shows. Around ten projects receive funding – anything from a modern dance series tied to a Met Facade commission to a children’s workshop during an exhibition on ancient China. 

You can bring a lot to the table even if you are not buying art every day.

Hannah Howe

Howe has spearheaded the group’s formation and followed an ‘intentionally slow and steady’ process to perfect its line-up. ‘They have each demonstrated an investment in the spirit of the Met,’ she says of those selected through her organic recruitment strategy, which has involved consulting internal and external colleagues as well as philanthropists. ‘You can bring a lot to the table even if you are not buying art every day.’ Cohen and Williams, for example, both participated in the museum’s ‘Women and the Critical Eye’ panel last April in celebration of female patronage. ‘We spoke to around 400 people, which was a great experience and started our relationship with the Met,’ says Cohen. She believes the time is ripe for institutions to diversify ways to provide greater involvement for the next generation of board members. ‘With everything going on in the world, it is so important to find places where you can learn about different cultures and communities,’ she says. For Cohen, the first step is to educate young patrons about all aspects of an institutional collection’s maintenance. Patrick agrees and adds that an in-depth understanding of the museum’s programme helps members pass the knowledge on to their networks. 

‘We are a diverse group and each of us can be an additional mouthpiece for what the Met has on view,’ she says. Growing up next door to the museum with two art collector parents, Patrick often found herself wandering the ancient Greek and Roman galleries. ‘As a Black woman, I was not always under the most diverse roof,’ she admits. She jumped at Howe’s invitation to join the Vanguard Council and work to ‘increase global audience outreach and also build closer relationships with people within our own city.’ As an antiquity major, Patrick looks forward to furthering cross-pollination between different historical departments and contemporary art, citing as an example the museum’s recent exhibition ‘Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now’. ‘The council is not about ownership but stewardship and opening up to inclusive audiences,’ she says.

What sets the Vanguard Council apart from other museums’ similar patron groups is its emphasis on young patronage and a genuine role in the museum’s day-to-day operation. While the group does not have a say in acquisitions, it does have a direct influence on programming. Howe distinguishes the council from the Met’s Apollo Circle and, having seen some Circle members transfer to other institutions in search of more active participation, she is aware that one of her goals is to cement new young patronage by offering ‘deeper engagement’ with programme budgeting for ‘gutsy projects in the museum’s new chapter’. For Howe, the Vanguard Council is much more than a hobby for monied philanthropists. It is ‘home for those who are serious about the Met’.

During Frieze New York 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be showing ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ (10 May – 26 October), ‘The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble’ (until 19 October), ‘Sargent and Paris’ (until 3 August) and ‘The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo’ (until 27 May).

This article first appeared in Frieze Week New York magazine with the title ‘Soft Power’. 

Further Information

Frieze New York, The Shed, 7 – 11 May, 2025. Tickets are on sale – don’t miss out, buy yours now. Alternatively, become a member to enjoy premier access, exclusive guided tours and more.

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A dedicated online Frieze Viewing Room will open the week before the fair, offering audiences a first look at the presentations and the opportunity to engage with the fair remotely. 

Frieze New York is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.

^{Main image: Curator Akili Tommasino and Vanguard Council co-chair Arielle Patrick in the Met’s Court for Greek and Roman Art. Photo: Alec Vierra}