Milwaukee Art Museum’s Revenue, Staff in Decline

Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) has not recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The institution reports that attendance, membership and staffing are all down since 2019, and the latest available federal tax forms show the institution’s revenue is down by millions.

Attendance and memberships are both down 20%, school trips are down 50% and staffing is 25% lower than it was five years ago, according to a report from museum Director Marcelle Polednik to the Milwaukee County Board. The museum is also struggling with the rising cost of doing business. “From utilities costs to maintenance repairs, staff expenses to technology improvements, the percentage of the Museum’s budget that is earmarked for essential services continues to grow,” the report stated.

But when asked about this report, a spokesperson for the museum told Urban Milwaukee the institution is now seeing “strong, incremental growth in attendance and memberships as we rebound, steadily increasing our revenue and driving our performance.”

The museum has long-standing financial challenges, as Urban Milwaukee has previously reported, driven to a large extent by the construction of the expensive Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion in the early 2000s. Milwaukee County Supervisors are also in the process of re-evaluating the county’s relationship with the various cultural and arts institutions it supports. Policymakers have notably considered the possibility of selling the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace museums.

Supervisors added an amendment to the 2024 budget asking administration officials to “review the current funding agreements to determine if they are sustainable for both the cultural institution and the County.” But the board was working with its first budget surplus in decades when it approved this amendment, thanks to the additional 0.4% sales tax the board authorized in 2023. Less than a year later, policymakers are heading into a budget cycle with a very different financial picture: an $11.5 million budget deficit.

When it comes to cultural institutions that receive funding, “the County has reduced or is reducing its operating and/or capital support of these institutions,” according to a June report prepared by Erica Goblet of the county’s economic development division. “The intent is to give an adequate transition period for these organizations to eventually become independent of the County.”

For the past 10 years, the art museum has received $1.1 million annually from the county for operating support. Beginning in 2024, per an agreement with the county, the operational support was reduced to $500,000, where it will stay until 2033 when the county and MAM are contractually expected to sever financial ties.

MAM, like other county-supported institutions, was placed on a path toward eventual independence during the past decade. But it has yet to find itself on sure footing financially. Since 2011, the museum’s tax forms show the institution has yo-yo’d between running budget surpluses and budget deficits; at times multi-million deficits. Most recently, the museum finished 2017 $3.1 million in the red.

The institution’s financial trouble dates back to the development of the Quadracci Pavilion, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The addition, which included little gallery space, ended up costing far more than originally projected, and in the years that followed the museum’s budget ballooned from approximately $6.5 million before the addition was built to $15 million five years after opening due to additional maintenance and security costs, as the 2022 Urban Milwaukee story reported. In 2019, the museum’s budget reached approximately $21.1 million; since then it has been pared back and in 2022 the museum had an $18.9 million budget.

A spokesperson for the museum said it considers the county a “valuable partner” and that, given the 10-year countdown to independence, the museum is “developing additional pathways to partner in the future with both public and private forms of support.” The museum’s letter to the board notes the county’s funding is an “essential part of the annual budget.”

The spokesperson also noted that “sources of public funding we are eligible to receive” are “vital” to the museum. For many cultural entities with ties to the county, there is the expectation that independence will allow them to qualify for grants not currently available to them and that fundraising will pick up.

“With rising costs, we are seeking ways to increase our revenue streams,” the museum reported to the county board. “One way is by growing our endowment. This approach will take many years to prove itself as a successful method to creating long-standing financial strength.”

County Executive David Crowley‘s administration recommends policymakers continue to honor the county’s agreements with local cultural institutions. But given the county’s financial position, it will have limited ability to support the institutions further without making cuts to other areas of county government.

“The County must continue to find ways to reduce expenditures,” according to the report by Benton. “Based on the current fiscal outlook, the recommendation is to continue the strategy of reducing operating and capital expenses, while allowing adequate transition time for our cultural partners to become independent of the County.”

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