Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Economy Continues to Batter Museums
As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Museum of Art announced a 7% staff reduction (comprised of 16 currently held jobs and the elimination of 14 vacant spots), and 5-10% salary cuts for senior personnel. With crucial endowment funds down more than 25%, Chairman, H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, warned that if “endowment keeps being reduced in value there are going to be further steps taken.
Similar troubles have hit the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Detroit Free Press reports the purge of 63 employees (a 21% reduction of its 301 person staff) and substantial cutbacks in programming. In total the museum will save $6 million from its $34 million yearly budget.
The dismal news has even hit the largest of institutions, arriving at the doorstep of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a letter posted on the museum’s website (previewed above), Chairman of the Board of Trustees, James R. Houghton, cited a 25% decrease in endowment funds (which provide 30% of operational costs) since June 2008 and announced an all-out hiring freeze and the permanent closure of fifteen satellite museum shops around the country. In addition, Houghton warns of the inevitable future, stating the Met “has also launched a thorough assessment of all of its publications, exhibition programs, and administrative services in a determined effort to reduce costs. Inevitably, there will be additional actions to come.”
Added to an ever inflating list of fiscally troubled institutions, including MOCA, The National Academy, and Rose Art Museum, this news does not bode well for the foreseeable future of public arts.
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