African-American Museum in peril

I don't know how this story slipped by -- it appears to have originated with the Detroit Free Press back in February -- but it took until this week to be picked up by the Art Newspaper:

The eight-year-old Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History is in disastrous financial shape and faces closure, according to a stinging exposé in the Detroit Free Press. According to the report, the city of Detroit, which provides about a third of the museum’s annual $5.6-million budget, has spent $13 million on the institution, but the museum has squandered the money through mismanagement.

The history of the museum “has been one of managerial blunders, lax oversight and financial calamity,” says the report. Among its damning revelations are that the city, which provides about a third of the museum’s annual $5.6-million budget, has spent $13 million to keep the ailing institution open. . .

When the huge 120,000-square-foot $38.4-million structure opened in 1997, it had no endowment and an annual budget of $6.8 million. It was expected to draw 500,000 visitors annually, but had a poorly installed collection of mediocre quality and failed to gain the stability necessary to attract gifts. Visitors have fallen dramatically from 200,000 in the inaugural year to 38,000 last year.

There is still no endowment and the museum reported a deficit of more than $2 million in 2001. Despite trimming staff, programmes, and opening hours, the museum has more than once failed to pay its employees.

There's a reassuring message from the chairman of the museum's board of directors from earlier this month; how effective the promised measures will be remains to be seen.

Posted by David on June 17, 2004 11:16 PM