WSGW Morning Team Show: July 22, 2020 (Thursday)

America’s museums have suffered serious financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic — and, according to new research, many museum directors fear their institutions will not be able to recover.

According to data from the New Hampshire-based firm Dynamic Benchmarking, many museum directors worry they will not be able to sustain their organizations in the coming months. The data was published in a report Wednesday from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

The researchers surveyed directors of 760 museums from June 8 to 30.

Of those surveyed, one-third (33%) were not confident about their museums’ survival over the next 16 months without additional financial relief. Seventeen percent said they didn’t know if their museums could survive that long without relief, while 16% believe their museums face significant risk of closing permanently in that time without relief.

“Museum revenue disappeared overnight when the pandemic closed all cultural institutions, and sadly, many will never recover,” AAM’s president & CEO Laura Lott said in a statement. “Even with a partial reopening in the coming months, costs will outweigh revenue and there is no financial safety net for many museums.”

Additionally, 87% of museum directors said they have 12 months or less of their financial operating reserves remaining, with 56% having less than six months left to cover operations.

Employees at these museums have also suffered. Forty-four percent of museum directors said they furloughed or laid off a portion of their staff, and 41% expect to reopen with reduced staff.

“The distress museums are facing will not happen in isolation,” Lott continued. “The permanent closure of 12,000 museums will be devastating for communities, economies, education systems, and our cultural history.”

Lott added that funding from public and private sources is “crucial to saving the museum field.”