Small museums that help define the unique character of New York's artistic scene are relocating, transforming or announcing closure, citing difficult economic times.
Last week, the Center for Italian Modern Art said it had ceased operations in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood after more than a decade and was seeking a university to house its archives.
In May, news broke that Fotografiska New York, an outpost of the global photography museum in Gramercy Park, was laying off staff for financial reasons and looking for a new home.
And in January, the Rubin Museum of Art announced it would sell its Chelsea building and cut 40% of its staff to focus on traveling exhibitions and long-term loans to other institutions, in an effort to “redefine what a museum can be.”
Laura Mattioli, founder of the Italian Centre for Contemporary Art, recently said financial difficulties had led to the decision to close.
“We’ve been open for about 11 years, but things have changed since the pandemic,” said Mattioli, who owns an apartment in the same Broome Street building as the museum. “We sometimes spent more on traveling the art to and from Italy than the actual value of the art itself.”
Delayed crisis?
Early in the pandemic, a survey by the American Alliance of Museums warned that without support from government and private donors, as many as one-third of America's cultural institutions could close. Against these rigorous expectations, very few have done so. Most have survived the lockdown with the help of federal loans, which have eased restrictions on how cultural organizations can access donations or sell art from their collections. Many institutions have also increased admission fees to make up for the gap.
But such measures may simply be buying time. In recent years, as overhead and staff salaries have increased, attendance has declined and fundraising efforts have slowed. Many museums are cutting back on the number of exhibitions they present each year to tighten their belts.
“A third of New York’s museums are in the red,” said Erika Sanger, who recently ended her term as president of the New York Museum Association. “The expectation that a museum will have a lot of money is not for everyone,” she said. “Small and medium-sized organizations are having difficulty becoming self-sufficient.”
Cultural institutions have sounded the alarm. In January, arts executives sent a letter demanding that the city restore $53 million in proposed arts funding cuts, describing further cuts as “a dime’s worth of foolishness,” noting that arts spending is a tiny fraction of the overall city budget. On Thursday evening, the city complied.
“I am proud to announce that the upcoming budget will fully restore funding for libraries and cultural institutions,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “These institutions are a vital part of the fabric of New York City.”
Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, said it was a relief.
“We are all receiving about the same amount of funding from the city as we did 15 years ago,” he said, explaining that while costs have increased due to inflation, the city’s share of operating revenue has fallen from 30 percent to 10 percent over the same period.
A recent survey of museum leaders by the American Alliance of Museums found that 25% of cultural institutions across the country are drawing on reserves or endowments to cover operating costs.
Find the answer
Efforts are underway to research and preserve museums across the state. Last year, New York lawmakers appropriated $1 million to commission a report examining the economic and social impact of cultural institutions. Lawmakers recently approved $10 million in funding for the Museum of Innovation and Science in Schenectady to help the museum, which houses General Electric's archives, continue to operate and repair its crumbling infrastructure.
But for many museums that are closing, opportunities for such assistance have been limited.
Mattioli, founder of the Center for Contemporary Art in Italy, said the changes in the foundation have made it harder for her small institution to apply for grants. She said many grant organizations have begun requiring exhibition proposals to include elements of diversity and inclusion since the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. She said themes of social justice are more prevalent in American art than in contemporary Italian art, making it harder for her museum to compete for funding.
Visitor habits are also changing, she said. “Should CIMA be open today? I don’t think so,” Mattioli said. “We closed it because there’s a change in how young people view art compared to our generation.”
It's part of the life cycle of small art institutions to eventually merge with larger ones, said Michelle H. Bogart, an art historian at Stony Brook University in New York, citing the example of the Brooklyn History Center becoming part of the Brooklyn Public Library system in 2020.
“There’s something to be lost,” Bogart said. “They all contribute to the vibrancy of the city in some way and provide jobs.” But she warned, “If the economy goes down, they could disappear.”
When Fotografiska opened five years ago, it followed the museum model of generating revenue through membership clubs, restaurants and bars in a building made famous by Anna Sorokin, known as Anna Delvey, the fake heiress convicted of defrauding the city's elite. I wanted to make it. This was an alternative source of revenue beyond admission fees. This summer, adults could pay $29 for admission, which included a glass of wine to sip while touring exhibits by Vivian Maier and Bruce Gilden.
But leasing the Flemish Renaissance building at 281 Park Avenue South was a lavish expense, including a 15-year lease with real estate mogul Aby Rosen's company, RFR Realty. When Fotografiska signed the lease, it was reported that the company was looking for a tenant willing to pay $100 to $125 per square foot for the 40,000-square-foot building. According to Crain's, the company has put the building on the market for the second time in two years, with a 2024 sale.
Two employees who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal data said ticket sales had surged since the museum reopened after the pandemic but have declined in recent months.
“We’ve made a very bold move into one of the world’s busiest cultural markets,” says Sophie Wright, Fotografiska New York’s managing director, arguing that the 240,000 visitors who came through its doors last year are a sign of health. “That’s a pretty strong performance for a young startup, but we had to do a lot of marketing to cut through the noise.”
The institution, which has four other locations, including its original location in Stockholm, decided in recent years to halt plans to build new museums in London and Miami.
Wright said Fotografiska will eventually find a new home in the city and its small team will remain employed at the museum. She added that it was a mistake by the human resources director to send a letter to about 180 employees last month saying they would all be laid off by the end of 2024.
“We’re talking about a change in strategy, but it’s not about the end of something,” Wright said.