The Dallas Museum of Art is adjusting its operations in response to the “new realities in a post-pandemic world.”
Officials at the museum announced that due to rising costs, the expiration of federal emergency funding, and a decrease in visitors compared to pre-pandemic years, they would be making changes to “realign the budget,” as reported by KERA.
Staffing changes were made. Twenty employees were laid off, accounting for 8% of the museum’s staff. Two full-time positions were reduced to part-time, per Fox 4 KDFW.
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is also decreasing its operating expenses by closing one additional day per week. Beginning December 1, the museum will no longer be open on Tuesdays. Regular operating hours will be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays.
As part of these cost-cutting measures, greater emphasis will be placed on the permanent collection, with fewer traveling exhibitions imported to the museum.
The DMA is in the midst of expanding its facilities, and that work will continue. The contract to refresh the nearly 40-year-old building was awarded to the Spanish architecture firm Nieto Sobejano after the company won first place in the Reimagining the Dallas Museum of Art International Design Competition earlier this year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The DMA said the new measures were “difficult but necessary steps” that would help the museum “move towards a sustainable future,” in a statement reported by Fox 4.
“We are confident that our operations are now in alignment with achievable revenue goals,” the press release concluded.
Notably, the announced changes did not include an increase in the price of admission. “Because we believe that art is a gift meant for all, general admission to the DMA is FREE,” the museum website states.
