Clarification: In a previous version of this article, the Daily Orange’s request for comment from the Everson Museum’s interim director Sarah Massett and Board of Trustees Gary was unclear. Massett and Grossman could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Art communities across the nation are now privy to the announcement Syracuse’s Everson Museum of Art made at the end of January — its projected financial deficit and cancellation of two major exhibitions.

The local museum is expected to face a combined deficit of $500,000 for 2013 and 2014, according to a Jan. 27 press release. The Board of Trustees voted to cancel the two traveling exhibits that were scheduled to visit this year in order to put the Everson on a path to financial recovery.

Both the “Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting from Glasgow Museums” and the “African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond” exhibits were expected to increase the museum’s financial losses to $750,000.

Instead of looking to gain revenue through ticket sales for the exhibits, which the museum said it expected would be in the red, the board decided to create a task force that will develop a financial recovery plan.

The plan includes looking at sources of revenue and shifting the museum’s priorities, according to the Everson press release.

“The decision was not made lightly and was not made quickly,” said Sarah Massett, interim director at the museum.

Massett said by taking away the two traveling exhibitions, the board’s goal for 2014 is to put the museum in a better position to address its financial situations.

Although the recovery plan is intended to revitalize the museum’s economic situation, the stigma of canceling two prestigious exhibitions so close to their opening dates could tarnish Everson’s reputation in the art community.

The decision made headlines not only in Syracuse, but in the art world as well, when artdaily.org, an online newspaper, published an article about the cancellations in late January.

The article appeared as a major news item on the website which scholars, art professionals and gallery and auction visitors all subscribe to, said Gary Radke, an art history professor at Syracuse University.

Radke, who specializes in Italian painting, said he is very upset, disappointed and confused that the exhibitions have been canceled, especially the “Of Heaven and Earth” exhibit that was going to be presented in April.

The “Of Heaven and Earth” exhibit is currently in Alberta, Canada, allowing visitors to see many Italian masterpieces including work by famous Renaissance artists including Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Bellini and Titian.

Art exhibitions of this scale usually take three to five years to organize, Radke said, indicating the exhibition was not a last-minute addition.

Radke, who previously helped organize exhibitions in Atlanta, said he has had venues cancel exhibits he has prepared; however, he has always been notified well more than a year in advance.

Everson canceled the “Of Heaven and Earth” exhibition less than three months before its opening date.

“At this short notice, I personally would be angry and feel betrayed,” Radke said.

Massett said the board acknowledged that many people, including partners for the exhibition and members of the community, were working for and anticipating these exhibits.

”While it was heartbreaking for the trustees to do it, they really did do the right thing for the institution in the long term by making the choice they did,” Massett said.

The Everson Museum’s president of the Board of Trustees Gary Grossman did not return phone calls asking for comment.

Grossman said in the Everson press release, “While major exhibits such as Heaven and Earth and African American Art bring attention and interest to the museum, they have not attracted the necessary financial support to offset their high cost.”

Everson has paid a steep price to cancel these exhibitions, said Radke. They will have to pay current cancellation charges and anticipate that organizers of future exhibitions will be wary of considering the museum as a venue.

“While it is painful in the short term to have to cancel these two exhibitions, it is the right thing for the long term health of the museum,” said Massett.

She added that there are other exhibitions being organized for 2014 by the Everson, such as “Mary Giehl: Rice is Life.”

But Radke believes this isn’t enough.

“We have burned our bridges with the organizers of the Italian show as well as what looked like a magnificent exhibition of African American art that was going to be coming,” Radke said.

Grossman stands by the Board of Trustees’ vote to cancel the exhibitions, and said in the press release that it would have been “irresponsible” for the museum to continue hosting the exhibits given the museum’s current financial condition.

Radke said he believes the museum is going to have to make some important decisions in the upcoming months and decide if it just wants to be just a local museum or if it wants to be more visible on a grander stage.

Said Radke: “Of course, I mean eventually they will recover from this, but why should we have gone five years backward when we could have leapt ten years forward?”

kacapoda@syr.edu

Published on February 9, 2014 at 11:51 pm

Contact Kate: kacapoda@syr.edu