The Museum of Glass has reduced its staff by seven – about 20 percent – as part of across-the-board cost-cutting measures, museum officials said Tuesday.
The financial troubles at the iconic Tacoma museum come as a result of lower attendance and contributions, and are necessitating other moves such as merging departments, although the hot shop and other visitor experiences will not be reduced.
“We hate to have to do this, but after the board looked at the situation … we had to reduce our staff,” said executive director Tim Close. Seven administrative staff members were laid off Jan. 27. No hot shop personnel were involved, says Close, and the museum is “trying to preserve and enhance the visitor’s experience,” maintaining hours and exhibits, and even adding hands-on glass work for visitors in the hot shop beginning Saturday.
Also not affected is the position of full-time museum curator, which was recently vacated by Melissa Post because of health issues. The museum intends to fill that post in the next fiscal year.
Attendance has dropped 8 percent in the past fiscal year, Close said, with a projected 150,000 people expected to attend the museum in the 2010-11 year that ends in June. Revenues have also dropped by 8 percent, he said.
In the past month, other museums in the region also have been faced with fallout from the down economy: The Seattle Art Museum is currently closed for two weeks for an all-staff furlough to cut costs, and the state budget proposes closing the Washington State History Museum, whose Pacific Avenue premises were a catalyst for both the Museum of Glass opening in 2002 and the Tacoma Art Museum moving into its current building in 2003.
The Tacoma Art Museum has seen a 29 percent decline in attendance over the past year, though its contributions have remained steady and it ended 2010 in the black.
Close stressed that the Museum of Glass is not in danger of closing.
“We’re still a young museum,” he said, adding that several trustees and past trustees have been “extremely generous” with recent donations.
“It’s bumpy right now, but we’ll come out the other end,” Close said. “We hope it gets better. Museums need everybody’s help and continued support.”
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568
rosemary.ponnekanti@thenewstribune.com
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