Museum of Northwest Art loses staff, board members

Since mid-November there have been several staff resignations and lay-offs at the Museum of Northwest Art. Six board members resigned as a group after Development Director Liz Theaker’s sudden resignation following a November board finance committee meeting. In mid-December Northwest Legacies Project Curator Kathleen Moles resigned and Communications Director Justine Thayer was laid off.

Board members who resigned are Bruce Bradburn, C.J. Ebert, Betsy Humphrey, Steve Klein, Gretchen McCauley and Meghan Dunlap Rice.

Theaker’s and the board members departures followed an end of October consultant’s report recommending a capital campaign to “elevate MoNA to a new level of excellence and secure its future for the next 10-20 years.” The suggested top priority was “stabilize current operations. Focus on raising $600K by December 31, 2017.”

Museum Executive Director Christopher Shainin stressed the importance of placing these personnel decisions in a context of detailed professional assessments of MoNA dating to 2015. Comprehensive examinations of the building, budgets, programs and staff were made against national museum standards. As important as building and budget issues were, the primary issue is “cultural:” the interactions, beliefs, history and perspective of MoNA board members and staff.

In a September presentation made to the board, the consultants offered these findings:

1. MoNA’s culture of conflict + contradiction + controversy is holding the museum back

2. There is a lack of common vision at MoNA

3. MoNA has a history of resistance to strong proactive, leadership

4. Progress is being made at MoNA. Some great things are happening – shine a light on them

The presentation and report proved prescient.

The report’s conclusions were listed as options. The other two were “close the museum” and fix infrastructure and “just get by year to year . . . this is a great disservice to the art, to the artists and to your community.”

In an early December meeting with the Weekly News attended by board members Tom Beckwith, Christian Carlson and David Hall, Shainin emphasized that the issue is the future of the museum and how to move forward. He recounted that the board had made unanimous decisions in 2016 approving a plan for the museum and to move forward toward a capital campaign. He noted that the consultants found that unanimity was missing this fall, with some board members having other priorities and not embracing the choice of a capital campaign.

Beckwith echoed that assess-ment, saying a vision was needed, with the board gravitating around it, but disagreement was clear on the board. He said Theaker was not the issue. Hall agreed, saying there had “been a confrontation among board members going on for quite a while.”

While the report advocated a capital campaign to establish the museum’s long-term future, Carlson noted the consultants’ emphasized that board alignment was necessary and “they said you are not aligned and you are not ready for a capital campaign, that you have to get your house in order.”

Beckwith said the whole board understood that growth was necessary, and it “was not where the ship was going but who is operating the oars.” Carlson, mixing metaphors, said “the train is really leaving the station. People decided ‘do we really want to do this?’ That’s when the doubters decided to get off.”

Beckwith referred to the consultants warning that a “crisis is going to come” and emphasized “that’s the price of involvement.” Hall is finishing nine years on the board. He reflected that differences were ongoing over the last four years or so and not new. The board resignations did not surprise him.

Shainin and these board members pointed to extensive community involvement, both to date, and planned for 2018. Shainin said that community workshops starting in February will be a big part of the process.

He estimated that “something north of $100,000” had been raised by the end of December and said that now there is clarity about what the fundraising team’s focus, that the board and staff are working together.

Theaker and resigned board members have declined to comment or not been reached.