The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles is reported to be close to signing a five-year deal to collaborate on programming, research and exhibitions with the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C., according to an article in the New York Times.
John Wilmerding, president of the board of the National Gallery, told the Times that the National Gallery hopes with this agreement to “stabilize” MOCA L.A.
The potential deal would not include any exchange of funds, although the museum has been in a financial crisis since 2008, when a plunging endowment brought an earlier proposal for a merger with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which was scuttled when Eli Broad bailed out MOCA to the tune of $30 million. This report follows by several days the revelation of a new potential agreement for MOCA to merge with LACMA. That deal would involve LACMA raising $100 million to support MOCA.
The National Gallery could also benefit from the deal with MOCA. The East Building, which contains the National Gallery’s contemporary collection, will soon undergo renovations. Works from the contemporary collection could go on loan to MOCA during that time, according to the report.
