concernedNAC

The constitution of The National Arts Club has been changed several times over the 103 year life of the Club. The original purpose of the Club, as described in its original Constitution, was to "... promote the mutual acquaintance of art lovers and art workers in the United States; to stimulate and guide toward practical and artistic expression the artistic sense of the American people..." In 1961, "...education of the American people in the fine arts" was added. In 1987, two years into the Aldon James/Steven Leitner administration the Constitution was modified again by the then-existing Board of Governors, not only to further emphasize education as a purpose, even though it has not reported any educational activities in previous federal tax returns, but also to make the nomination of candidates for the Board extremely difficult. Where previously only 15 signatures were required, the new James/Leitner Constitution requires 1/3 of all resident members AND 1/3 of all non-resident members, respectively. With a present membership announced as of 5/1/01 as being 2025, an alternative candidate to ones hand-picked by Aldon or his nominating committee would need to muster over 670 signatures from resident members and non-members scattered across the United States and in foreign countries -- essentially impossible. The tremendous emphasis on education as a purpose by the administration was the rationale that led to the purported incident behind the latest Federal civil rights suit against the Gramercy Park Trustees. Yet The NAC reports NO educational activities on its Form 990 Federal income tax return. (click here for link) This "Constitutions" section presents these points in detail.