On 5 August, the San Diego Museum of Artwork (SDMA) laid off 11 staff. These included at the least one museum guard, two registrars, two preparators, an exhibition supervisor, a growth director and a member of the membership employees. In response to a supply with data of the state of affairs who spoke with The Artwork Newspaper on situation of anonymity, at the least two of the laid-off staff had labored on the museum for greater than 14 years.
“After cautious consideration and taking cost-saving steps, the troublesome resolution by the board of trustees was deemed mandatory within the face of the continuing funding downturn from federal grants, general price range reductions, elevated operational prices and an organisational restructure to help long-term sustainability,” Kari Kovach, the SDMA’s chief working officer, mentioned in an announcement to The Artwork Newspaper.
In response to reporting by The San Diego Union-Tribune, the museum obtained a $25,000 federal grant in 2025. Kovach says the museum has gotten no additional federal grants since then. In 2025, director Roxana Velásquez obtained a wage of $488,436, in accordance with SDMA’s most up-to-date tax types. Total, government compensation accounted for 7.3% of the museum’s whole bills that yr.
In 2023, SDMA absorbed the Museum of Photographic Arts because it pursued plans to broaden its West Wing. Designed by the worldwide structure agency Foster + Companions, the proposed undertaking would broaden exhibition house and add collection-storage vaults, a neighborhood pavilion and as much as 100 underground parking areas. A 2023 Metropolis of San Diego lobbying disclosure lists SDMA’s efforts to safe metropolis approvals for a brand new rooftop and pavilion, arts-education house and West Wing infrastructure and facility enhancements.
The museum is now soliciting donations for the undertaking, which obtained a Signature Mission Design Award for Museum Renovation from the Design Ahead Alliance. The SDMA additionally obtained an Onion Award from the San Diego Architectural Basis final yr for proposing to demolish the prevailing 1966 mid-century trendy West Wing, designed by Mosher & Drew.
In a metropolis already troubled by cuts to its cultural establishments and mounting strain on its arts financial system, San Diego’s mayor Todd Gloria not too long ago proposed $11.8m in price range cuts to the prevailing $13.8m in metropolis arts funding, roughly an 86.6% discount. Ultimately, $10m of these cuts have been restored by a mix of redirected municipal funds and philanthropic donations.
In early January, Gloria’s administration applied paid parking in Balboa Park, the place SDMA is situated, after a long time of free parking, including a brand new price for guests to the town’s largest focus of cultural establishments. The parking programme was supposed to generate income for the town and park, however museum attendance fell by a mean of 34% within the first quarter of 2026, leading to an estimated $5m decline in income for Balboa Park’s museums and cultural establishments (which additionally embody the San Diego Air and Area Museum, San Diego Pure Historical past Museum and Comedian-Con Museum).
Gloria modified the programme in February, increasing free parking for San Diego residents whereas acknowledging that doing so would scale back income. Town council in the end voted to finish paid parking by 1 January 2027, a reversal that’s projected to price the town round $2.2m in income.
