MOCA Feels a Squeeze

The Museum of Contemporary Art is staging what is expected to be its best-attended exhibition ever--”Andy Warhol Retrospective,” a $3-million extravaganza that has drawn 72,000 visitors during the first five weeks of a 12-week run and, due to sponsorship fees and a donation from the city, is already in the black. But at the same time, leaders of the museum are dealing with financial setbacks.

The particular challenge at MOCA is that $6.9 million of a $10-million promised donation has been delayed and may never be paid. The museum has not identified the patron, and its 2001 annual report merely states that “the collectibility of [the remaining $6.9 million of] a donor’s pledge was uncertain.” But a recent article in the Los Angeles Business Journal identifies the donor as MOCA trustee Dallas Price.

Price, who is co-owner with her ex-husband, golf course magnate David Price, of American Golf Corp. in Santa Monica, pledged $10 million to the museum in early 2000. The gift, to be made in annual installments and used for operations and endowment, was the single largest donation in the museum’s history.

Price made initial payments, but in 2001 she reportedly notified the museum that she could not make additional payments until the golf company recovered from its severe financial slump. Like other companies in the industry, American Golf Corp. has suffered a substantial loss of business amid a weakening economy and a glut of competition.

Price, who continues to serve as a trustee, could not be reached for comment.

Jack Wiant, the museum’s chief financial officer, confirmed that the donor’s total pledge had not been received on schedule. Because of that shortfall, in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2001, the museum’s total income dropped $6 million from the previous year.

The museum has not yet finalized its books for the 2001-’02 fiscal year. But Wiant says that the financial picture isn’t as bleak as it might appear.

“In most categories, our income has been going up,” he said. “Membership [fees] in the lower levels went from a total of $830,000 to $1.2 million, mostly because of the Warhol exhibition but also because of the David Hockney show, which started off this past fiscal year and did extremely well. We were already doing pretty well, and Warhol has just helped us.”

In response to the loss of expected installments of the pledge, the museum cut $2 million out of its $15-million operating budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year, which just ended, by not filling several positions and cutting costs across the board, Wiant said. “After Sept. 11, everybody had to reevaluate. Many corporate sponsors backed away from supporting cultural institutions. But when the opportunity for the Warhol exhibition arose, we added about $3 million to the [operating] budget, which will be about $16 million--including Warhol--for the [fiscal] year just ending.”

The staff and trustees “are very carefully looking at the next few years to see where we are going to go.” Wiant said. “In the meantime, the stock market has continued to have difficulties. That affects everyone.”

MOCA director Jeremy Strick agreed that the museum is “dealing with a very difficult climate,” but said the institution is making substantial progress. “In a difficult period for all institutions, we have consistently been raising our level of contributed and earned income and brought our budget down from 2001. When you combine the reduced costs with higher income, you are definitely on the right track.”