Cash-Short Muckenthaler Center Lays Off Director

Muckenthaler Cultural Center trustees have laid off director Jane K. Bledsoe, citing a $55,000 shortfall in fund-raising during the center’s second year of a privatization process.

Trustees of the city-owned operation, which began to wean itself from city support in late 1994, had hoped to raise about $325,000 this year. But “we were overenthusiastic about our ability to raise funds in a short period of time,” said Carolyn Loe, chairwoman of the Muckenthaler Cultural Center Foundation board and interim director.

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Bledsoe, whose salary was $52,000, had held the job since September. The board plans to name an acting director next week and eventually hire a new, permanent director at a lower salary than Bledsoe’s, or else divide the position into two jobs, Loe said.

The center’s privatization agreement with the city requires that by next year, the board must raise 50% of its operating funds. City support will decrease further thereafter. The theory behind privatization was that donors would be more generous with an institution lacking municipal support.

There is no plan to change the agreement, Loe and city officials said. But Loe acknowledged that trustees “need to improve our fund-raising.” The board is targeting untapped corporate sources and trying to secure ongoing support rather than one-time donations, she said.

Bledsoe said this week that trustees were unwilling to hire professional development personnel, causing the funding problem. Loe said trustees would like to hire such staff but could not afford to.

Loe said she does not anticipate any further layoffs or cutbacks and said that all 1996-1997 programs will proceed as scheduled.

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The city now contributes about $100,000 for center operations and pays for the facility’s upkeep. The year before the privatization effort began, the city spent $260,000 to operate the center.

Muckenthaler stages five exhibitions a year and presents drama, comedy and musicals in its outdoor amphitheater through two Theatre-on-the-Green series.