LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART CUTS HOURS AND STAFF

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced that it will be reducing its hours of operation by 12 percent and cutting staff accordingly. The decision to stay open six instead of eight hours on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays is not a result of financial stress, says the museum. Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times reports that Terry Morello, LACMA’s vice president for external affairs, said that attendance will total 1.3 million for the 2011–12 fiscal year and that the budget is about to increase 6.4 percent to $67.6 million. It is reported that the cuts will affect six full-time employees and fourteen part-time museum guards as well as a number of box office staffers. Last summer, LACMA fired seven employees as a restructuring measure.