LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), announced today that it will finish its 2009 fiscal year with a balanced budget, and that the institution is taking additional restructuring steps to ensure a balanced budget for its 2010 fiscal year. These cost-saving measures, combined with cuts made in January, will reduce MOCA’s annual expenditures from approximately $20 million to $15.5 million—and are central to the museum’s ongoing plan to rebuild its financial base, replenish its endowment, and set the stage for a vibrant future.

The museum also announced the appointment of Carolyn Powers (effective September 2009) and Marc I. Stern (effective immediately), both of whom are active patrons of the arts and leaders in the philanthropic community, as new members of MOCA’s Board of Trustees.

“With stringent budget constraints and an economic environment that continues to be challenging, we have had to restructure and reduce our operations. It is with great reluctance that we have had to make further cuts. However, these are essential steps forward in returning MOCA to financial health by bringing our staff and program to a sustainable size. We are making significant process at ensuring stability, while enabling the institution to continue the pursuit of its mission and maintain its stature as an institution of global significance,” said MOCA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Charles E. Young.

As part of the additional restructuring needed to create a sustainable operation, the museum has reduced its staff size by 17 positions (12 full-time, two part-time, one temporary, and two unfilled positions); this includes two museum curators. Additionally, senior staff has agreed to a cut in salary of at least 5%, and other staff has agreed to a reduction in hours or salary; further savings have been realized through reductions in employee benefits for all staff members.

Expenses have also been reduced throughout the institution and include cutbacks in exhibition and education programming, operations, development, and marketing. The following exhibitions have been cancelled: Form and Photo: Intersections Between Sculpture and Photography; Luisa Lambri: Being there; MOCA Focus: Drew Heitzler; and Morphosis. Dan Graham: Beyond, organized by MOCA and currently on view at MOCA Grand Avenue, will close as planned on May 25, 2009, and tour to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. In June 2010 Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will open at MOCA Grand Avenue, following its presentation at Tate Modern, London.

MOCA also announced that on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the museum will present the largest comprehensive presentation of its world-renowned permanent collection in November of this year. While works from the collection have been seen in over 100 critically acclaimed thematic exhibitions at MOCA, Collection: The First 30 Years will be the first chronologically organized, historical survey drawn from the museum’s collection of more than 6,000 works dating from 1939 to the present. The installation will encompass the entire 24,000 square-feet of exhibition space at MOCA Grand Avenue, where works from the ’40s through the ’70s will be on display, with an installation of equal scale of works from the ’80s to present day on view at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.