Orlando Museum of Art faces financial crisis in wake of Basquiat scandal

Rocked by the Basquiat scandal, the Orlando Museum of Art is facing a financial shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars, seeking help from government and private individuals to keep it afloat and facing public calls for leadership changes from a former volunteer, interim director and trustees.

According to a person who attended a meeting with executive director Cathryn Mattson last month, Mattson said the museum was in dire financial straits, having exhausted reserve funds and lines of credit; had arranged a payment plan with its attorneys because of mounting legal bills; and was looking at a budget shortfall for the coming year that could reach up to $1 million.

“We’re in a cash crunch so we’re addressing that as any business would,” Mattson told the Sentinel. “When things are unforeseen, you deal with it. That’s what we’re doing.”

Mattson said the museum has already disclosed its financial difficulties and that “you go to operating cash and reserves, as any nonprofit does routinely.”

In a written statement Mattson elaborated, acknowledging “a significant cash shortfall. [Fiscal year 2024] has a projected budget shortfall in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is no secret, as we claim these damages generally in our lawsuit.”

Orlando Museum of Art made national headlines after the FBI seized artwork attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a critically acclaimed artist who died in 1988. Since then, a California auctioneer has told the FBI he forged some of the works that were part of the exhibition. The FBI had served a subpoena on the museum before its “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition opened that was related to the art, but that information was kept from trustees and the exhibit went ahead.

A lawsuit was filed by the museum in August against its former director, Aaron De Groft, and owners of the art displayed in the “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition. It accuses De Groft of dereliction of his fiduciary duty and alleges a conspiracy between the owners and De Groft to inflate the value of the art by exhibiting it at the museum.

De Groft has since filed a countersuit claiming unfair dismissal and defamation.

Mattson said many of OMA’s legal fees “resulted from months of work by electronic data recovery specialists” after the museum received the FBI subpoena prior to the exhibition opening. “The Museum had to pay for these unbudgeted expenses using a combination of operating funds and reserves,” said Mattson, adding that most of those fees have been paid but the museum owes money for ongoing litigation expenses.

In a New York Times article posted Friday, the newspaper said it had reviewed documents given to trustees that showed the museum had spent $444,590 on legal expenses and $144,193 on a crisis-communications firm in 2022. Its current budget, for the fiscal year ending in June, has allotted another $317,425 to pay the firms, the Times reported.

Seeking help

Because of its dire finances, the museum has been reaching out to government and private individuals to try to secure funds.

“OMA has also sought monetary assistance from its government and charity partners,” Mattson acknowledged, but said so far financial help doesn’t seem to have materialized.

“The city is currently in the discussion phase with the Orlando Museum of Art to better understand future plans and philanthropic efforts,” wrote City of Orlando spokeswoman Ashley Papagni in response to a Sentinel inquiry about possible financial help for the museum. “At this time, there have not been any commitments made.”

Papagni confirmed Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer had met with museum leaders to discuss “strategy updates, the museum’s value to the community, its centennial celebration and next steps.”

Orange County government spokeswoman Jane Watrel also confirmed that Mattson and board chair Mark Elliott visited with county Mayor Jerry Demings and his staff.

“Subsequently, Mayor Demings has had conversations with other individuals in the community,” she wrote but would not identify who participated in the conversations or if financial assistance was discussed.

In her statement to the Sentinel, Mattson said the museum was getting support from members of its board.

“Crucially, the museum’s trustees have stepped up by doubling or increasing their contributions to bridge this liquidity crunch,” she said.

Public petition

Museum volunteer Fiorella Escalon said she learned of the museum’s financial situation after being summoned to an online meeting of OMA’s Acquisition Trust board a few days before Christmas.

She said Mattson gave a report on the museum’s achievements of the past year but also spoke frankly about a deteriorating financial situation.

Mattson told the group OMA was asking its most loyal supporters to dig into their pockets again, and she presented a letter she hoped to use to raise funds from the museum’s volunteer organizations, which include not only the Acquisition Trust but the Friends of American Art and the Council of 101, which holds fundraising events such as the annual Festival of Trees.

Escalon objected to sending the letter to Acquisition Trust members without further transparency from museum leaders. That led her to post an online petition calling for a change in leadership at the museum.

Escalon’s online petition, posted on Change.org, calls for the resignation of the museum’s trustees and Mattson. Orlando Museum of Art leaders responded this week by removing Escalon from her volunteer post on the board of its Acquisition Trust.

The museum’s removal notice sent to Escalon, who provided it to the Sentinel, cites a range of reasons for her expulsion from the Acquisition Trust, a group of volunteers that purchases art for the museum’s permanent collection. Most of them center on her public petition, which also calls for transparency about an internal investigation into how the artwork attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat ended up in the 2022 “Heroes & Monsters” exhibit despite the FBI’s subpoena.

“You have made many, many false or inaccurate statements and claims regarding the Museum and the character and actions of its Trustees. … Additionally, you have brought fear and embarrassment to Museum staff who work tirelessly in support of an institution that has been preoccupied with improving its reputation and financial condition after the Museum was the victim of a fraudulent art scheme,” her dismissal letter states. “You have demonstrated contempt for the Museum’s leadership and governing board, and you have failed to demonstrate an ability to properly represent the Museum.”

Editorial: Orlando Museum of Art should answer calls for transparency

Escalon, a Winter Park-based artist who works in sculpture, printmaking, painting and other media, was asked in August to join the Acquisition Trust board. She said her removal didn’t come as a surprise.

“I’ve lost friends over this. There are people who won’t be seen in public with me,” Escalon said.

She believes she did what needed to be done.

“I have teenagers and tell them everyone makes mistakes,” she said. “But when you do, be honest about it.”

Significant support

Escalon’s petition has been supported by former trustees, including a former chairman of the board, and drawn comment from Luder Whitlock – a well-respected former interim executive director at the museum who was lauded for stabilizing OMA after the FBI seized suspected fraudulent art from its “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition.

Whitlock told the Sentinel this week that ideally the museum would find new trustees and hire a new executive director.

He also said he would reluctantly return as interim director, if needed.

“I prefer not to return since I am happily retired,” he wrote in an email, “but will agree to do so for a brief period if there are no good alternatives.”

Escalon referenced Whitlock on her petition because “after Luder left, people really started losing trust in the museum.”

“We’ve all suffered reputational harm,” said Escalon, a lawyer who followed a passion for art to a master’s degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She said when she meets fellow artists from outside Central Florida, she often hears, “Please tell me you’re not part of that museum.”

So far, Escolan’s petition has 400 signatures – though the murky world of the Internet makes it difficult to ascertain if all are legitimate.

One signatory, who threatens to withhold financial support without leadership change, is signed “M. Steinmetz” – a seeming representation of noted philanthropist Margery Pabst Steinmetz. But, contacted by the Sentinel, Steinmetz said she was unaware of the petition.

Other names on the list, however, could be verified by the Sentinel. They include retired judge Winifred Sharp, a former trustee who stopped financially supporting the museum after its response to the scandal, and William Forness, a former chair of the museum’s board.

Forness said he signed the petition as “a concerned resident of the community” and that “It certainly appears that the leadership of OMA since I resigned in protest has not been stellar.”

Sharp said she and other longtime supporters remained disheartened by the museum’s course: “It makes us all sad.”

Escalon said she did not start an Instagram page called @save_the_oma, which also launched in recent days. The account, which contains newspaper clippings and also calls for a change in leadership at the museum, lists more than 500 followers, though many of them have no obvious ties to Central Florida.

Roof repairs

Mattson said she would not comment on Escalon’s petition, writing, “We can’t control what people say or do online.”

Hired as interim director and CEO eight months ago, Mattson has been quietly given the job on a permanent basis. In her statement to the Sentinel, she listed the museum’s 2023 accomplishments including attendance growth to 135,000 — pre-COVID levels — and increased attendance at the Festival of Trees, which attracted 13,000 visitors.

“The museum has not missed an opening, a school tour, a children’s camp day or any other scheduled event,” she wrote. “We have delivered on all of our service commitments to the community.”

But looming large over the museum’s community commitments is the state of its leaking roof and outdated air-handling system. In the fall of 2022, Elliott confirmed it would take at least $7 million to make necessary repairs.

“We need to raise the money to repair it,” Mattson told the Sentinel. “It’s something we must do to maintain the integrity of the building.”

Unlike other major arts organizations such as Orlando Shakes, Orlando Ballet and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the museum owns its building and land.

Under a legal arrangement, should the museum be unable to operate for any reason, its property in Loch Haven Park would revert to the city.

But Escalon said she has no wish to see the museum fail, sentiments echoed by Whitlock.

“It has great significance as a cultural icon,” he said. “For us to be passive and let it go under would be an atrocity. I think it’s worth trying to save.”

And Escalon said her ultimate goal is to restore the public’s faith in the museum and its mission.

“To see a museum really promoting emerging and contemporary art is so important,” she said. “That’s why I’ll do anything for this museum.”

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