The Smithsonian Institution’s woes have been front and center in the news lately, and now it has sent its first victim to the chopping block. In the wake of last week’s fairly crushing – though not entirely surprising – report on the state of the museums, Secretary Lawrence M. Small has submitted his resignation, announced today by the Board of Regents Executive Committee. Some have noted that Small may only be the first of the Institution’s management to get pushed out.
Small has been under scrutiny for some time now, accused of Ladner-esque use of Smithsonian funds for personal expenses, which the Post outlines well, including $31,000 for Berkeley stripe upholstery and $2,535 to clean a chandelier, among other housing, travel and luxury costs. The former banker’s “Capitalism Yay!” view of museum management has often been sharply critisized, as he courted and signed deals with corporations to sponsor exhibits, which we discussed last July or, as the Post also notes, made deals with companies like Showtime for semi-exclusive access rights to archives.
Add that to the Smithsonian’s report and its emphasis not just on current problems, but ongoing mismanagement that has clearly been ignored, and Small’s ouster, either forced or voluntary, seemed inevitable. And if this leads to some severe restructuring of the Institution as a whole, you won’t see us complaining. Much of the information in the report is old news – leaks endangering the collections? Color us surprised appalled that still hasn’t been addressed. Though the lack of proper Congressional funding continues to be a tightening noose around the neck of the Smithsonian’s attempt at upkeep, the report makes clear that they need to clean house first, before they beg for funds that seem to be going nowhere (or at least, going into the 60% raise Small got over the past few years).
Among one of the more obvious suggestions is to consolidate management of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, housed together at the Renwick Gallery Reynolds Center. (The folks at SAAM published their reaction to the report at their blog, EyeLevel.) A more coherant vision and integrated use of collections, including joint programming, is asked of nearly all the museums, particularly at the Renwick Reynolds, between the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and between the Hirshhorn and all the other museums. Take a look over at The Art Newspaper, who broke the news of the report last week, for a decent breakdown of the recommendations.
While the Institution looks for Small’s replacement, Cristián Samper, head of the National Museum of Natural History, will be acting secretary.
