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Economy & Culture: Museums taking a hit

Regardless of whether big-name donors like Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch make good on their pledges, many cultural institutions are already facing tough decisions to cope with big losses in their endowment funds or other financial losses.

  • While the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has become the poster boy of troubled museums, it seems like the economic downturn merely exacerbated that institution's management problems. Lee "CultureGrrrl" Rosenbaum has an excellent play-by-play, including her take on separate offers by philanthropist Eli Broad and local museum LACMA to "bail out" MOCA.
  • Rosenbaum's blog also looks at questionable deaccessions at the National Gallery (the LA Times arts blog also has a look at how the deaccession took place).  The American Association of Museums, Association of Art Museum Directors, and the New York State Regents' Cultural Education Committee all quickly responded by denouncing the practice of selling artworks to cover operating costs.
  • Closer to home, SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin caused quite a stir by proposing 50% funding cuts to the San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony.  The city fund that dispenses the money, Grants for the Arts, also supports other educational and cultural programs.  The SF Board of Supervisors will vote on Peskin's proposal in January.
  • Lastly, the New York Times looks at a few museums who recently expanded and how they're coping with the economic downturn. The article puts some numbers to the situation, which helps give a sense of the scale of these museums' losses.


So, what can you do? Become a member of a museum, or pick up last-minute gifts at museum stores, where revenue often goes directly to support educational programs, exhibition development, and other operating costs.

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