When I started writing that headline, above, I wrote "the" trouble with... But I quickly corrected myself because, as financial and other troubles have plagued many art museums of late (not least the Metropolitan Museum of Art*), it's very clear that many museum boards have more than one fault. But a press release today from the J. Paul Getty Trust irked me; it … [Read more...] about A Trouble With Museum Boards
Museum Funding-Fundraising
At the Top of the Met, Salaries Rose During Buyouts & Layoffs
Consider the top two-thirds of this posts as akin to a re-tweet, because I have not confirmed the numbers. Yesterday, the New York Post published a story online headlined "Money-losing Met hands execs hefty raises." In it, with numbers drawn from a new (or newish?) 2015 federal income tax filing, we learn that four current employees of the Metropolitan Museum*--director Thomas … [Read more...] about At the Top of the Met, Salaries Rose During Buyouts & Layoffs
Brace For More Bad News From The Metropolitan Museum
It's coming--possibly Wednesday or Thursday of this week, though I doubt there will be any "announcement." Rather, employees will learn of the museum's financial outlook at a town hall meeting in the museum. I don't have any numbers, but the gist of the message coming from management--Director Tom Campbell and President Dan Weiss--will be that the museum's financial … [Read more...] about Brace For More Bad News From The Metropolitan Museum
New Year, New Format? Some News!
For some two years now, I've been finding it hard to find time to blog here. But I still hear of items of interest to the art world that go little remarked, and I notice other things, announced, that should be remarked on. It is at times like those that I wish there was a short form, like Twitter, but not Twitter. I've never tweeted and don't follow anyone on Twitter … [Read more...] about New Year, New Format? Some News!
Met Layoffs Today: About Three Dozen People Were Let Go
Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art* shed more staff--in the form of involuntary layoffs. As we've known for a while, the Met's financial position has deteriorated: its operating deficit has been placed at anywhere from $10 million to $40 million, depending on various scenarios. I've even heard, from informed sources, that it could be larger. By the end of the day, some 34 … [Read more...] about Met Layoffs Today: About Three Dozen People Were Let Go