SPEED ART MUSEUM CUTS BUDGET BUT STILL PLANS TO EXPAND

“Like all not-for-profit organizations right now, the Speed is trying to do more with less,” says Speed Art Museum director Charles Venable. “At this point, we have revised our operating budget from $6.6 million to $5.7 million for fiscal year 2008–2009 through the elimination of $900,000 in operating costs.” The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that the museum is not filling vacant positions, with the exception of the curatorship for contemporary art that brought Texas curator Suzanne Weaver to town last year. But there is quite a bit on the bright side, Venable says. “Our plans for renovating the old buildings and adding some new space in an expansion are still moving forward. The wHY architects from Los Angeles, in association with Norman K. Barry from Louisville, continue to work on the conceptual designs for the project. While the economy does make raising funds more difficult,” Venable says, “it also has reduced the cost of construction, so some of the negative effects will be offset.” He adds that “attendance has remained stable throughout the fall and spring. This may have to do with the fact that we are free to the public.”