Delta to Sponsor Whitney Museum of American Art

Becomes official airline of preeminent American art institution

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Aug 03, 2011, 10:30 ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines and the Whitney Museum of American Art today announced a new sponsorship designating Delta as the official and exclusive airline of the Whitney Museum, the iconic art and cultural hub in New York City.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )

The Whitney is the newest addition – and first in the arts category – to Delta's extensive sponsorship portfolio in New York, which includes Madison Square Garden, The James Beard Foundation, 9/11 Memorial Fund, Food Bank for New York City, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. The partnership aligns Delta with the world's foremost collection of contemporary American art.

As part of the agreement, Delta customers will receive benefits and discounts including complimentary access to the Whitney for members of the airline's SkyMiles Medallion program. Starting Aug. 5, 2011, Diamond Medallion members will receive complimentary admission to the Whitney for themselves and one guest any day of the week. Platinum, Gold and Silver Medallion members and their guest receive admission the first Friday of every month.

"Delta's sponsorship of one of New York's most renowned art institutions is a natural extension of our commitment to New York which already includes partnerships with preeminent organizations, institutions and professional sports teams," said Gail Grimmett, Delta senior vice president – New York. "This sponsorship enables us to help bring the arts and culture of one of the city's great museums to residents and art lovers alike, while also providing our customers with additional benefits."

"We are thrilled that Delta has become the official airline of the Whitney," said Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney's Alice Pratt Brown director. "As the Whitney is one of the world's foremost contemporary art museums, travel is essential to us. Delta will help us to fulfill our mission to collect, present and interpret the art of the United States in the broadest global context, while raising the Whitney's profile for countless travelers and art enthusiasts the world over."

In May 2011, the Whitney, located at 945 Madison Ave. at 75th St. in New York City, broke ground on a new 200,000-square-foot building in the Meatpacking district scheduled to open in 2015. Delta's partnership includes travel for the architecture, design and building teams which will help the Whitney develop, build and launch the new downtown space.

About the Whitney

The Whitney Museum of American Art is the world's leading museum of twentieth-century and contemporary art of the United States. Focusing particularly on works by living artists, the Whitney is celebrated for presenting important exhibitions and for its renowned collection, which comprises over 19,000 works by more than 2,900 artists. With a history of exhibiting the most promising and influential artists and provoking intense debate, the Whitney Biennial, the Museum's signature exhibition, has become the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States. In addition to its landmark exhibitions, the Museum is known internationally for events and educational programs of exceptional significance and as a center for research, scholarship, and conservation. Founded by sculptor and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1930, the Whitney was first housed on West 8th Street in Greenwich Village. The Museum relocated in 1954 to West 54th Street and, in 1966, inaugurated its present home, designed by Marcel Breuer, at 945 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side. While its vibrant program of exhibitions and events continues uptown, the Whitney is moving forward with a new building project, designed by Renzo Piano, in downtown Manhattan. Located at the corner of Gansevoort and Washington Streets in the Meatpacking District, at the southern entrance to the High Line, the new building, which has generated immense momentum and support, will enable the Whitney to vastly increase the size and scope of its exhibition and programming space. Ground was broken on the new building in May 2011, and it is projected to open to the public in 2015.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 355 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.