Museums Affected by Crappy Economy

This is so depressing. If the Met is suffering from this financial depression, imagine what is happening to other museums that do not have as large an endowment and contribution base generating operating income. Oh Goddess. From The New York Times February 23, 2009, 3:08 pm — Updated: 3:08 pn Met Museum to Close Shops, Freeze Hiring By Carol Vogel In response to the global economic crisis, James R. Houghton, chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, posted a letter on the institution’s Web site on Friday announcing that the Met had decided to close 15 of its satellite shops around the country. A year ago the Met ran a total of 23 stores but over the last year it has quietly closed 8, including three in California and one at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan. It now plans to close an additional seven, and will instead concentrate on its online shop and has recently redesigned its mail order catalog. Mr. Houghton also said that the museum had imposed a hiring freeze and is curtailing staff travel and entertainment as well as the use of temporary employees. It is also in the process of a museum-wide assessment of its expenses to see how it can further reduce costs. Emily Rafferty, the Met’s president, said Monday that “we cannot eliminate the possibility of a head-count reduction.” The museum’s endowment, which provides about 30 percent of its annual operating revenue, has decreased 25 percent since June 30, 2008 to $2.1 billion from $2.8 billion. Membership and attendance is down too, in large part because of falling tourism. More museums affected by current economic conditions: February 26, 2009: Walters Art Museum, Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore has become the latest art institution to announce cost-reducing measures that include job cuts. February 25, 2009: The New York Times reports that three museums have or will lay off museum staff:

• The Detroit Institute of Arts said it would lay off about 20 percent of its staff, or 63 of its 301 employees, in an effort to cut $6 million from its $34 million annual budget, The Detroit Free Press reported. The layoffs would affect 56 full-time and 7 part-time employees from across the museum’s staff; the museum has already canceled planned exhibitions on the Baroque period and the artwork of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and Jim Dine
• The Philadelphia Museum of Art said it would eliminate 30 positions through layoffs and attrition and cut the pay of its senior staff in an effort to reduce its operating budget by $1.7 million to $52 million, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The museum is also contemplating raising its admission fees, though that would ultimately require the approval of the city
• The High Museum of Art in Atlanta announced a series of budget cuts on Wednesday, including a 7 percent reduction of its staff, the elimination of five full-time and three part-time positions, and pay cuts for its remaining employees. The museum said the reductions and other cost-cutting efforts would save $1.4 million and reduce its operating budget to $23.7 million