The Tamesis
Daniel H. Weiss tells the media in his first extensive interview as new director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia Inquirer His agency’s board of directors didn’t need to make major changes after his predecessor was abruptly fired last year.
In a controversial rebranding, Sasha Suda was fired in November for what one email described as “reasons.” After her firing, media reports said the board accused her of embezzling funds, increasing her salary by $39,000 over two years. Sudar, who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the museum, claimed the increase was authorized.
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Weiss, who previously served as director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was named director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in November, shortly after Souda was fired.
this inquirer The interview indicated his continued support of the museum board. Previously, Souda’s lawyers claimed that certain trustees “commissioned a false investigation to create a pretext for Ms. Souda’s termination.”
“I don’t think our board needs to be completely restructured…given what you’ve read in the paper, which seems counterintuitive, I think our board needs to be viewed as a true partner,” Weiss told inquirer This week. “I do believe strongly in shared governance, which means directors and senior managers have a job to do and the board has a job to do.”
However, he doesn’t mince words when he talks about the need for change at the museum, especially financially. “We have a deficit,” Weiss said. “This is unsustainable and we need to address it. In order to do that we need to look more broadly at the organization and build a healthy model.” This inquirer Weiss has begun a “listening tour” with museum staff, which he said will involve assessing “the current issues that most need to be addressed,” the report said.
For the wider public, one of these issues was the museum’s widely ridiculed name change from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Many people poked fun at the rebrand because it was deemed not different enough and was an easy target for jokes since its new acronym, PhAM, could easily be mistaken for PhArt.
“We need to address the rebranding and decide whether to change it or keep it,” Weiss said. “We’re considering that.” The interview was published Tuesday, one day later inquirer The marketing executive responsible for the rebranding effort has reportedly resigned.
