Beleaguered Philadelphia Museum of Art Reports $10 Million Deficit
12July 30, 2026
ThePhiladelphia Museum of Arthas announced a deficit of $10 million on a $75.6 million budget for fiscal year 2025–26. According to thePhiladelphia Inquirer, which broke the story on July 28, the figure is nearly double that of the institution’s shortfall for the previous year, which was $5.4 million. Museum officials’ predictions for FY2026–27 suggest the deficit could remain flat or increase to as much as $15.9 million.
PMA director and CEODaniel H. Weissand Mitchell Wein, the institution’s executive vice president and chief financial and operating officer, chalked up the gap to flat contributions, admissions, membership, and earned revenue. Weiss told theInquirerthat the deficit was “substantial but solvable,” noting that the institution had made up for the shortfalls through cash and reserves. “The way I would describe it is, we have a savings account for rainy days. We’re spending it,” he said. “We need to stop doing that.”
Citing said low staffing levels that make layoffs untenable, Weiss told the publication he was not averse to outsourcing or streamlining, but that his goal is to replenish the museum’s coffers by increasing revenue rather than trimming costs. He expects to balance the institution’s budget within three years.
The shortfall is the latest in a string of challenges the PMA has faced in the past half-decade, beginning in 2021, when director Timothy Rub stepped down over allegations that he mishandled harassment accusations against a subordinate. The museum replaced him with Sasha Suda, hiring her away from the National Gallery of Canada before sacking her following a disastrous rebrand and replacing her with Weiss, a former president of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Suda filed suit for wrongful dismissal, and the museum countersued her for theft; the conflict is set to be resolved via arbitration, at a judge’s order, later this year.