JOBS CUT, HOURS REDUCED AT FRESNO ART MUSEUM
By Donald Munro
Fresno Bee
Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009
Fresno’s "other" museum is facing tough times, too.
The Fresno Art Museum this week is cutting its budget by a third,
laying off a still undetermined number of its 15 employees and
declaring furloughs for those who remain. The museum also is reducing
the number of days it will be open.
Interim executive director Eva Torres said the museum had to cut
$400,000 from its $1.2 million budget this fiscal year, which
started July 1. The museum’s business offices, which had been open
Mondays-Fridays, are now closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The exhibitions,
which had been open to the public Tuesdays-Sundays, will now be open
Wednesdays-Sundays.
While the community’s attention has been focused in recent months
on the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and its inability to repay a
city-backed $15 million loan on its downtown building, the Fresno
Art Museum has struggled with the same bad economy that has hammered
nonprofits across the country.
"We hope this is temporary, but it will depend on the support we
receive from the public," Torres said. "If there ever was a time for
the community to step up, this is it."
The museum faces other challenges as well. Executive director Michael
Mazur, who was much heralded for his business background, resigned last
month after nine months. Major corporate donor Gottschalks declared
bankruptcy, and others have reduced contributions. Membership has
decreased.
And if that isn’t enough, a leaky roof has to be fixed before it rains.
Torres, the museum’s director of development and communications,
served as interim director before Mazur was appointed and stepped into
the role again after his departure. She said the staff is rallying
as best it can, and she hopes to keep a positive outlook as the cuts
take effect.
"People don’t typically think of the arts as essential services,"
Torres said. "It’s our hope to convince them that they do."
A 60-year legacy The Fresno Art Museum isn’t really the city’s "other"
museum, of course. Having just celebrated its 60th anniversary, it
has been around a lot longer than the Met, which is celebrating its
25th year.
It calls itself the only modern art museum between San Francisco and
Los Angeles. With its Council of 100, organized in 1986, the museum
was one of the first in the country to create a program featuring the
work of important women artists. The museum’s permanent collection
includes a large inventory of pre-Colombian works and collections
by such artists as sculptor Robert Cremean. Recent notable touring
exhibits that have visited include a 2006 show devoted to Armenian
artist Arshile Gorky and an exhibition of work by Maynard Dixon that
closes Sunday.
But there are some who get it confused with its bigger downtown cousin.
"People think that the Met is the museum in town. There’s us, too,"
said Jo Anne Yada, a member of the Fresno Art Museum’s education
department. "Their finances and situation has been pretty public. A
lot of people get us confused with them."
But like the Met, the art museum has long had its own relationship with
the city. When the Fresno Art Museum, then known as the Fresno Arts
Center, moved from the Fulton Mall in 1960 to its present location at
Radio Park on First Street, it occupied city land. The new building,
financed with private fundraising, was given to the city. The city
is responsible for maintenance of the exterior; the museum maintains
the interior and outdoor sculpture garden.
There has long been something of a professional rivalry between the two
museums, which don’t collaborate on schedules or fund raising. Some
in the arts community question whether the Met’s mission – which
includes art, science and history – unnecessarily overlaps with that
of the Art Museum.
Some also have asked if Fresno is large enough to support two art
museums and whether it might make more sense to consolidate.
"It has been discussed behind the scenes," said Bill Stewart, who
recently worked at the Met to help it evaluate its options. "It works
well in theory. But it can be hard when dealing with egos, spheres of
influence, etc. Look at how long it’s taken to try to get city-county
consolidation of services in Fresno."
Torres said that in dire economic times, nonprofit organizations
across the country are contemplating lots of options, including
consolidations, but that a merger between the two museums is not on
the table.
Gaining traction is the idea of nonprofit groups sharing services. Now
that he’s finished with his Met mission, Stewart has been meeting with
a committee led by businessman Ed Kashian, joined by such members as
philanthropist James Hallowell, to find ways to make local nonprofits
– including the two museums – more efficient. Among the suggestions:
forming an administrative services organization combining back-office
functions such as accounting, marketing, grant writing and technical
support.
According to a "white paper" about the proposal provided to The Bee
by Hallowell, cultural arts organizations could pool resources and
share costs.
"I think there is some chance that under Ed’s leadership we could make
some progress," Stewart said. "There does appear to be some ways in
which money perhaps can be saved."
Whether it’s cooperation or consolidation, Stewart said he hopes that
dire times will force changes among tradition-bound institutions.
"It won’t be an easy task," he said. "We all know that, but that
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. But if the choice gets to be,
‘we either do it or go out of business,’ that has to be the reality."
Recession hits funding For years, Fresno’s cultural and monied elites
have given generously to both museums. But the current recession has
slowed contributions from both corporate and individual members of
the Fresno Art Museum, Torres said.
In the last year museum memberships dropped 25%, from 1,359 to
1,010. That represents a $138,000 loss in contributions from members
at all levels, including major corporate donors. The museum also
foresees a substantial drop in revenues from school programs.
Mazur, who had more than 25 years of management experience in the
oil and energy business and a master’s degree in arts administration
from Columbia University, took the job of executive director but left
after a disagreement over fundraising with the board of directors.
"I was asking the board to change their focus from cost-cutting and
concentration on special events to revenue generation and concentrating
on major giving," said Mazur. "I just didn’t see that change was
going to happen in the near future. That was a major difference of
opinion between the board and myself."
Those special events, Mazur said, include Carnival and Men Who Cook,
which serve both as fundraisers and social events for the museum.
Board president Kaye Bonner Cummings declined to comment on
Mazur’s departure or other issues, designating Torres as a board
spokesperson. Soon after Mazur left, trustee Alfreda Sebasto said
that his tenure "wasn’t the right fit for either party."
Mazur said nonprofit boards across the country have to adapt to
changing economic times and find new ways of generating revenue.
"It isn’t just a Fresno problem," he said.
Programs also cut For the public, cutbacks at the museum won’t just
mean fewer days of operation. Wednesday afternoon was the last of the
popular "Golden Age Films" program, which offered old Hollywood movies
once a month. Winter camps for children also have been eliminated.
There’s good news, at least, on the roof front: because it is an
exterior repair, that expense belongs to the city. Torres said bids
will be reviewed and recommendations will go Sept. 17 to the City
Council for approval, and once approved, the project can begin by
Oct. 1.
Most affected, obviously, will be the staff.
On Monday, education department staff member Yada staged a personal
vigil outside the closed museum – doing so, appropriately enough,
with a piece of performance art. Wearing painted black tears and a
black dress and hat, she sat cross-legged on the blistering sidewalk
next to handful of plastic lilies and a hand-painted sign reading,
"Without you our museum will die."
"The general feeling in our office is kind of dim," she said. "All
of us are kind of at a loss."
Her message: the museum needs the community, whether it be more
members, donations or visitors.
"It’s hard when the arts are considered optional," Yada said. "It seems
like the more cuts that are made, the closer the museum is to dying."