• New York Academy of Art donated $66,000 in Jeffrey Epstein-linked funds to nonprofit GEMS supporting exploited girls.
• The school said the move redirects all Epstein donations received after his 2008 conviction.
• Board chair Eileen Guggenheim will retire early following renewed scrutiny over the academy’s past ties.

The New York Academy of Art said that it has given about $66,000 donated by the sex offender Jeffery Epstein to a nonprofit organization that supports sexually exploited and trafficked girls and young women.

The school also said that, on April 1, its board chair Eileen Guggenheim will retire, a month earlier than originally planned. Guggenheim solicited funds from Epstein after his 2008 guilty plea and jail sentence for soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution. She declined to comment.

The Telegraph first revealed the additional funds that Epstein donated. “The academy apologizes for and regrets its past association with Mr. Epstein, which ended well before his arrest in 2019,” the school said in a statement to Artnet. “When the extent of his crimes became public knowledge, we took decisive action to ensure the safety of our students.”

The donation of these funds, which total $65,900, comes one month after Artnet reported that the Epstein files provided details of a portrait scholarship that he had funded around 2014, six years after his guilty plea in Florida. The Tribeca-based school, which was co-founded by Andy Warhol, said that it would donate those funds, totaling of $30,000, to the same nonprofit, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS).

The Epstein files showed that, in 2007, Guggenheim was interviewed by the FBI about Epstein in connection with “a federal investigation regarding the sexual exploitation of minors,” according to an FBI document.

A March 12 statement sent to alumni said that Guggenheim “will be stepping down from that role on April 1, after 44 years of service to the academy, including 19 years as chair.” A former dean of students, she will remain on the board, a representative for the school said.

That early retirement means that Guggenheim will not speak at the school’s commencement ceremony, where she is a regular presence.

Guggenheim is still set to being honored at the school’s annual Tribeca Ball fundraiser in April, according to an invite viewed by Artnet. Actor Alan Cummings and Guggenheim’s husband, Russell Wilkinson, are also named as honorees.

The newly unearthed gift provided “support for academy events,” according to the school’s statement to alumni. Giving that money to GEMS means that the “academy will have redirected all funds received from Epstein after his 2008 conviction. Members of the board have also agreed to match these funds so that this payment does not reduce resources that support academy students.”

Maria Farmer, a former academy student, alleged that Guggenheim introduced her to Epstein and his alleged co-conspirator, Ghislane Maxwell. Farmer has claimed that the two sexually assaulted her in 1996 and that when she reported the incident to Guggenheim, the former dean blamed her. Guggenheim has denied introducing her to them and said she does not recall the conversation.

The alumni letter reads: “We are aware, of course, of a claim by a former student relating to events occurring after her graduation and while working for Epstein. The academy continues to encourage anyone with concerns or information to come forward so they can be heard and supported.”