Bloomberg published an article the other day about the pay afforded by some large museums, and although the reporter, Philip Boroff, was measured, the story obviously raises questions about whether such pay is appropriate. As it happens, Charity Navigator just released its own pay survey for non-profits, including arts groups, that put the Bloomberg piece in context.
To review, according to Bloomberg, Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art* (left, in 2005), took home the biggest pay-and-benefits packet last year: $1.32 million — “down from $1.95 million the year before, as the museum cut costs amid the recession.”
Elsewhere:
- Philippe de Montebello was paid $818,935, up 7 percent, in his last year running the Metropolitan Museum.*
- James Wood pocketed $1.1. million as CEO the J. Paul Getty Trust in the year through June 30, 2008.
- James Cuno received $626,175, as president of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Malcolm Rogers was paid $719,621 to run the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.*
How does that stack up against other non-profits and other arts non-profits?
Charity Navigator’s database consists of 5,448 mid- to large U.S. non-profits; the average CEO pay for them all is $158,075, up 6.1% from a year earlier. As expected, pay is highest in the Northeast and MidAtlantic states; it’s highest in New York City, followed by San Diego; and arts groups are second only to educational groups in pay.
The average pay at “large” institutions, those with budgets greater than $13.5 million, was $286,760. The museums Boroff surveyed all have budgets that are multiples of $13.5 million. In the Charity Navigator survey, at institutions whose budgets exceeded $100 million — and MoMA’s is $160 million — compensation averaged $462,037.
Set in this context, the compensation numbers published by Bloomberg seem better, but still somewhat high, especially when Lowry’s rent-free apartment in nearby Museum Tower is included, a benefit valued at $336,000 by the museum.
Charity Navigator, by the way, said the top Arts salary belonged not to a museum chief, but to the CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston.** There, Josiah A. Spaulding Jr.’s pay was reported as $1,644,331 — the fourth highest pay for a CEO in all the organizations in its survey.
Here’s the link to the study.
**UPDATED, 8/27: A Citi Performing Arts Center official informs me that Charity Navigator has revised its study of pay, and Spaulding is no longer the highest-paid in the Arts category. His salary, Citi says, was $400,000. A new version of the study no longer mentions him, leaving Lowry has highest-paid afterall.
* A consulting client supports these three museums.