The Brooklyn Museum said Friday that it will imminently lay off around 40 employees and reduce programming to ease a budget deficit with the potential to reach $10 million by June.
The news was first reported by Hyperallergic and confirmed via a statement by museum director Anne Pasternak to the New York Times. Pasternak reportedly broke the news to staff in a letter on Friday, writing that the institution was “experiencing strong headwinds: inflation has dramatically impacted our operating budget, adding millions of dollars to everyday costs and outpacing funding,” as quoted by the Times.
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She added that these financial troubles were “further compounded by slow post-pandemic attendance recovery across the field.”
Layoffs are reportedly planned across museum departments and will include union and non-union positions. Per Hyperallergic, the president of Local 1502—a division of the District Council 37 union that represents art handlers, curatorial assistants, and maintainers—claimed that he was informed of the news on February 6, one day before the museum staff was set to receive notice. The timing, he said, may constitute a breach of contract clause requiring the union receive advance notice of layoffs. The union has since sent a cease-and-desist letter to the museum to stop management from laying off union members without the opportunity for negotiations or adequate warning.
The layoffs will cap a complicated fiscal year for the museum, in which expenses habitually outstripped revenue despite growth in its board and endowment, as well as healthy attendance thanks to several blockbuster exhibitions, according to Pasternak’s letter. High-profile exhibitions that opened in 2024 include “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys,” “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm,” “Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies”, and “Solid Gold.” In September, the museum also unveiled a new brand identity to mark its bicentennial year.
The Brooklyn Museum has been a frequent site of pro-Palestine demonstrations, including ones directed at the museum with activists demanding it disclose any investments linked to Israel and subsequently divest from them. Dozens of protestors were arrested at one rally on museum premises last May after a physical clash with NYPD, sparking criticism from artists and activists. A museum spokesperson later publicly decried the incident as police brutality. Weeks later, Pasternak’s Brooklyn residence, as well as those of other museum leaders, was vandalized with a banner that read “Anne Pasternak / Brooklyn Museum / White Supremacist Zionist.” In November, three people were charged with making a terroristic threat and criminal mischief as a hate crime, among other charges.
ARTnews has reached out to the Brooklyn Museum and Local 1502.
