fresno

Fresno Metropolitan Museum Closes

Filed under: Art

The Fresno Metropolitan Museum announced yesterday that it is closing. In a letter on the museum website, museum president Stewart Randall called a museum "an exercise in hope" and expressed regret that the museum is closing after more than two decades in the California town. The museum is closing because of financial woes. It had struggled to stay afloat and was over $5 million in debt. The museum has laid off 12 employees and 10 others are staying on for a couple of months to close the museum. The city of Fresno owns the building after spending $15 million to cover the museum's recent of the former Fresno Bee newspaper building which went over budget. The museum's art collection and any other assets subject to creditor claims will be sold off over time. The building will be available for lease from the city and may house the Pop Laval photo collection gallery and the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame.

This isn't the only museum to recently close in California. Last month, the Claremont Museum of Art closed and moved its permanent collection to a warehouse.

Tags: art, fresno, museum closing, MuseumClosing

Fresno To Bail Out Its Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

One California city has stepped in to save its museum. City officials in Fresno will pay off a $15 million debt owed by the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. In return the town will receive the deeds to the museum building and its other real estate around the museum which the city can develop or sell. The city will then lease the building back to the museum. The museum is expected to pay over $2 million back to the city over the course of the next decade in staggered payments that take the current economic picture into account. The museum officials have also agreed to watch their budget more closely, fund raise more and have more family-friendly exhibits. The museum's board of trustees has approved the agreement which is now pending approval by the Fresno City Council.

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Tags: art, bailout, california, fresno, museum