“Calder Circus Saved” newsletter, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1982. Newsprint, 14 3/4 × 11 1/2 in. (37.5 × 29.2 cm). Frances Mulhall Achilles Library and Archives, Special Collections, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, SC.87.7
Whitney Museum History
First exhibited at the Whitney in 1970 as a loan from the artist, Calder’s Circushas been a treasured part of the Museum’s history for more than five decades. Materials from the Whitney's archive describe the public fundraising campaign to acquire the Circus from the artist’s estate in order to keep it in a public collection in New York. “Save the Circus” was organized as a three-week-long public event in 1982 that involved a children’s poster contest; publicity visits from then-New York Mayor Ed Koch; clown performers; and Targa, the elephant from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (with then-Whitney Board President Flora Miller Biddle astride). The campaign eventually secured contributions small and large from more than five hundred donors, achieving the Museum’s goal.
