The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which has been beset by financial struggles and board defections, announced Tuesday that it had been promised donations that would boost its endowment to more than $60 million, the highest in the museum’s 34-year history.
The museum said that the money was “a reflection of the board’s commitment to keep MOCA as a museum dedicated solely to contemporary art,†an apparent reference to a recent proposal under which the National Gallery of Art in Washington would collaborate with the museum on programming and exhibitions but would not provide any financial assistance.
“The financial support we have already raised demonstrates the commitment of the board to ensuring that MOCA remains a world-class independent contemporary art museum, and we call on others to join in this campaign,†Jeffrey Soros, the board’s president, said in a statement. Mr. Soros and another trustee, the prominent collector Eugenio Lopez, are the leaders of a new fundraising campaign for the museum, MOCA Independence, which seeks to increase the museum’s endowment to $100 million.
At its low point in 2008, because of overspending and flagging investments during the recession, the endowment dwindled to only a few million from a high of more than $40 million at the beginning of the decade. The billionaire collector Eli Broad, one of the museum’s founding board members, came to the rescue, giving the museum $15 million and a pledge of $15 million more to match contributions by others. But the museum struggled to find donors who would give to allow those matching funds to be used.
In February board members began exploring the possibility of joining with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the city’s most established museum, which proposed a formal merger. But last week the contemporary board appeared to change course and voted to remain independent. The idea of collaborating with the National Gallery in Washington, which has largely been panned by critics and supporters of the contmeporary art musuem, began after Mr. Broad approached the National Gallery and asked for assistance.
