The Arkansas Arts Center has furloughed more than one-third of its full-time staff through at least May 18, as funding dries up amid the global coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Friday.
The Little Rock arts museum and school will continue paying the furloughed staff's health insurance benefits and retirement contributions, officials said.
The Arts Center canceled its spring art school semester but has pledged to pay faculty through the quarter, according to a news release. That equates to a roughly $150,000 reduction in revenue on top of a $233,333 reduction in support from the city of Little Rock, which recently cut its budget.
The cuts have been to the Arts Center's annual operating budget, and the funding losses have not yet affected plans to make over the museum's headquarters, an estimated $128 million project, officials said.
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"This is a particularly critical time in the history of the [Arts Center] as we balance our annual programming budget with the building construction project and capital campaign," Board President Merritt Dyke said in a written statement. "Millions of dollars, both public and private, and thousands of hours have already been invested into the construction of a new [Arts Center]."
Staff has been working out of a temporary headquarters in Riverdale. Friday's announcement that 36% of its staff will be furloughed means that 15 full-time workers are affected, officials said.
The announcement did not include details about part-time staff, which totaled about 40 as of last summer.
Arts Center Executive Director Victoria Ramirez said Friday the nonprofit Arkansas Arts Center Foundation's support to the museum has not been cut. The foundation controls an endowment from which it issues about $2.4 million a year in grants to the museum. Officials said "stock market fluctuations" attributed to the coronavirus pandemic have affected the endowment.
"During these uncertain times, it's of vital importance that we maintain reliable revenue for the Arts Center provided annually through our endowment," said Warren Stephens, the foundation's board president.
"The Foundation Board will assess the level of support we can sustain while preserving the endowment as we navigate this unprecedented crisis."
Metro on 04/11/2020