Key donor group declares ‘no confidence’ in Orlando Museum of Art leadership
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An influential donor group for the Orlando Museum of Art has issued a vote of no confidence in the current leadership of the embattled museum as it struggles through the scandal surrounding its 2022 showing of disputed paintings by the artist Basquiat.
The group, the Friends of American Art, is a collection of roughly 65 individuals who fund purchases for the museum of American art created before 1940. It convened last week for a meeting in which members expressed concerns about how the money they have raised will be spent by the financially reeling museum, according to an email to members from President Eric Hornbacher that was reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.
“(T)here is a vote of No Confidence by the Friends of American Art as to the current leadership of OMA and current Board of Trustees for the Orlando Museum of Art as of January 24, 2024,” the email reads.
The vote by FAA marks the first time a museum-affiliated group has spoken out against OMA’s leadership, though others have registered their own concerns. A member of the Acquisition Trust, another of the fundraising groups known at the museum as “collecting circles,” was dismissed from her volunteer position after she started a Change.org petition calling on leaders to resign. That petition started by Fiorella Escalon was endorsed by former trustee Winifred Sharp, a retired judge, and William Forness, a former chair of the museum’s board.
Two days after he sent the email to his members, Hornbacher sent a letter to OMA’s Board of Trustees and executive director, informing them of the vote, as well as listing various concerns his collecting circle had.
It wanted assurances that FAA’s money – roughly $180,000 – would be used only to purchase art – with bank statements to show how it had been used. It also wanted the money put into a separate escrow account and questioned if and why the purchasing of art had been suspended, the email reads.
As a result of what the group believed was a suspension of purchases, it voted to stop collecting additional dues from its members to buy art for the museum.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Hornbacher confirmed the authenticity of the emails but declined additional comment.
In an emailed statement, museum executive director Cathryn Mattson said she believes the FAA’s vote was taken based on misinformation, and questioned its legitimacy.
“The museum values the FAA and its members, and we believe this vote and the meeting in which the vote was taken was convened on misinformation” she said. “We understand that the meeting was convened at a member’s private home, and we do not know whether a quorum was present or any other formalities were observed. We will continue working with the FAA and its members to ensure they are appropriately informed.”
She said that funds raised by FAA are in a restricted account that can, and is, only spent on acquisitions.
“We do not use restricted funds for anything other than their stated purpose,” she said.
However, while she denied that the museum has suspended its acquisition of art, she acknowledged acquisitions are “on pause” while the museum develops an updated collection plan.
The Orlando Museum of Art is facing a budget shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Orlando Sentinel previously reported, with Mattson acknowledging it faced “a cash crunch.”
Controversies at the museum have been rife in recent years, starting after the FBI in 2022 seized artwork attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat, an acclaimed artist who died in 1988. Following the raid, an auctioneer told authorities he forged some of the exhibition titled “Heroes & Monsters.”
Although the FBI had served a subpoena on the museum before the exhibition opened, trustees weren’t informed, and the exhibit went on as planned until the raid.
The museum is suing its former director, Aaron De Groft, accusing him of dereliction of his fiduciary duty and conspiring with the owners to inflate the art’s value. It also had sued the owners of the artwork, though it has since dropped that legal action.
The FAA suggested the museum board should drop all outstanding lawsuits in order to conserve its money. According to minutes of a December FAA meeting reviewed by the Sentinel, Mattson told the group prior to its vote of no confidence that the museum has incurred $1 million in legal fees.
