Letters: Art Museum responds to article

IN YOUR Aug. 17 story

"Balancing Act: Local Arts Groups Struggle to Survive on Tight Budgets,"

the Philadelphia Museum of Art's annual expenses were reported as $87 million, based on the latest available tax returns.

This information is somewhat misleading as it includes a onetime unique expense related to the purchase of Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic," jointly acquired by the museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts that year after a nationwide campaign to save the painting for Philadelphia. When you remove that amount, the museum's annual operating budget stands at $52.6 million.

Regarding the story itself, the museum fully understands the challenges that face arts organizations of all sizes in this difficult economic environment. While it may appear that a large institution like the museum is somewhat more immune to these pressures, the fact is that our operating expenses reflect the significant responsibility of maintaining the museum's collections and its landmark building, which are a vital part of the city's historic and cultural landscape.

According to Urban Partners, an independent financial consulting firm, the Philadelphia Museum of Art contributed $242 million in economic activity to the region in fiscal year 2008. In that same period, the museum generated $17.9 million in tax revenue for the city, and provided the equivalent of 3,200 full-time jobs. And it's not just the large institutions that have an impact - arts organizations large and small contribute enormously to the economic, educational and spiritual fabric of their communities.

We are all challenged to respond in creative ways to these economic realities. We applaud your reporting on the difficulties faced by arts and cultural groups, and want to clarify that the numbers alone do not always represent the full complexity of the situation.

Norman Keyes

Director of Communications

Philadelphia Museum of Art