June 16, 2009

Guggenheim cuts staff as endowment, donations shrink

Although the Guggenheim is enjoying record attendance, it will cut 8 percent of its staff due to unspecified “losses in donations and its endowment,” Crain’s reports.

Update: The Guggenheim’s endowment dropped about 18 percent, to about $113 million, Richard Armstrong, the director of the museum and the Guggenheim Foundation, told the New York Times.

Of the 25 positions to go, some will be eliminated through attrition.

The Guggenheim is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary with the major exhibition “Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward.”

Other museums have made cuts and raised admission this year as a result of the soured economy. The Brooklyn Museum hiked its suggested admission by $2, cut salaries, canceled a show and furloughed employees. The Museum of the City of New York raised its suggested admission by $1, and the Met cut staff.

Update: The Met Museum will announce more staff cuts this week, the CultureGrrl arts blog reports.

Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.

June 16, 2009 8:32 PM in Museums, Upper East Side

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