Museum Contine Cutbacks

The Art Newspaper is reporting many US museums are still encountering difficult financial times. The headline boldly states that one third of US museum directors will experience salary cuts. This is based upon a survey of 60 museums, so the real number could be different given the degree of error in the survey (hopefully less than a third). I have posted in the past on the precarious financial position many museums and historical societies currently find themselves in, so the news is not overly surprising but I have been hopeful and change for the better was on the way.. From the Art Newspaper article, it certainly appears things are not getting any better.

If you wish to review many of the cuts reported from the survey, view the article and at the end is a listing of US museums and a summary of some of the cost cutting measures they are making.  Some are very interesting, but it does not leave you with a good feeling at all about the state of cultural institutions or the economy.

The Art Newspaper states

Pay cuts extend to curators and administrators who have had their salaries frozen, their hours reduced, or their employer contributions to insurance and retirement plans cut. But directors of large institutions are still among the highest paid in the culture sector, with packages ranging from low six figures to more than $1m per year.

Among the directors who have taken the largest cuts are those earning the biggest paycheques at the richest institutions. MoMA director Glenn Lowry, the highest paid chief executive of a US art museum, had his salary reduced 15% last year, but his total compensation still topped $1.32m, and will remain above $1m this year even after another 10% cut. Peter Marzio, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, took a voluntary compensation reduction “in excess of 20%”.

James Wood, president and chief executive of the Getty Trust that operates the Getty Museum and other programmes, took a 6% cut as part of an overall 25% reduction in the Getty’s fiscal year 2010 budget. Getty Museum director Michael Brand had his base salary of $545,828 reduced to $513,079, though with benefits his compensation remains nearly $900,000. Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum (Lacma) since 2006, has also been taking home just under $1m a year, but will forego a bonus this year. James Cuno, chief executive of the Art Institute of Chicago, which unveiled a $300m new wing in May, took a 10% cut. But the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has slashed the number of employees, claims not to have reduced salaries or benefits of those who remain.

To read the full Art Newspaper article, click HERE.