In the United States, with a few exceptions, museums are organized as private charitable trusts or charitable corporations. They derive their purpose from their founders’ charitable purposes. When a museum falters (normally when endowment and other income is insufficient to fund the museum’s operations), options may be limited. In the case of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, the result was closure and sale of the museum’s assets.

However, as The Barnes Foundation and, more recently, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, have shown, when foundations or other charitable institutions are available as partners, complete dissolution of the museum may be avoided. The question remains: How to accomplish the needed change.
Continue Reading When a Museum Falters: The Corcoran Gallery of Art