Monica Almeida/The New York Times The Museum of Contemporary Art.Struggling to maintain its independence in the face of dwindling resources, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is close to working out a five-year agreement with the National Gallery of Art in Washington to collaborate on programming, research and exhibitions, according to the president of the Gallery board.
Any agreement would not include financial or fundraising assistance for the Los Angeles museum, and so would not immediately solve its fiscal problems. But an agreement could help boost the museum’s own efforts to raise money and war off, at least temporarily, a merger with its wealthier and more powerful neighbors, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or the University of Southern California.
“The goal at this point is stabilizing them and get them standing as an independent institution,†said John Wilmerding, president of the board of the National Gallery. “We’d like to see them survive and thrive and if we can help them, that’s all we’re doing.â€
Mr. Wilmerding said the billionaire Eli Broad, one of MOCA’s biggest financial supporters, had approached the National Gallery and asked for assistance. Mr. Wilmerding dismissed rumors of any merger or permanent partnership, saying the discussions so far have focused almost solely on joint programming and exhibitions. The National Gallery is also offering help with research, curatorial decisions and staffing a! dvice if needed.
An agreement, which Mr. Wilmerding said he thought could be finalized within a week, would likely raise MOCA’s prestige and morale at a time when it is recovering from the loss of its chief curator, declining attendance figures, and scorn for some of its exhibition choices, such as one devoted to disco.
An arrangement with MOCA also makes sense for the National Gallery, Mr. Wilmerding, said because the East Wing, where some of the gallery’s contemporary art collection and its research center is housed, will be closed for a few years during renovations. He said it is possible the National Gallery might lend MOCA some of its collection.
Just last week, the city’s philanthropic and art circles were weighing the plusses and minuses of a possible merger with the County Museum of Art after its director, Michael Govan, had proposed a merger with MOCA and a $100-million fundraising drive.
Mr. Broad, who donated $16 million to MOCA five years ago and has long opposed ny merger with Lacma, seems for the moment to have outflanked Mr. Govan’s efforts. Mr. Broad declined comment.
A spokeswoman for MOCA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
