After Basquiat scandal, an Orlando museum volunteer leader called for changes. The museum kicked her out. | Commentary
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It’s been more than 18 months since the FBI raided the Orlando Museum of Art, hauling off what authorities said were fraudulent pieces of art attributed to famed graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Yet the museum still hasn’t fully accounted for what happened.
Despite promising to release the results of an internal investigation into what went wrong — and how the museum allowed the exhibit to open when it knew the art was suspect — the museum has not done so.
Even more troubling, when a volunteer member of the museum’s Acquisition Trust board recently had the courage to speak up and say the community deserves answers, the museum kicked her out.
Yes, the museum went after one of its own volunteers and donors.
Meanwhile, the museum’s financial problems are spiraling. With mounting bills for lawyers and P.R. consultants, the museum is burning through its reserves, facing a budget shortfall and begging for donations.
All while the museum remains on probation from the American Alliance of Museums. It’s the only accredited museum to face that dubious distinction, according to the Alliance’s website.
It doesn’t seem like volunteers pushing for transparency are the problem here.
I’m not the only one who thinks so. A growing chorus of former museum leaders and supporters is calling for a change in leadership. That chorus includes the very man the museum brought on board to try to right the ship.
In 2022, the museum hailed Luder Whitlock’s hiring as interim director as the start of salvation for the museum. Whitlock has serious credibility in this community. He’s a Presbyterian minister with a successful second career in nonprofits. And his goal was to rebuild trust with the community.
Orlando Museum of Art drops ‘Basquiat’ owners from lawsuit — but not former director
But Whitlock resigned shortly after the museum celebrated his arrival. At the time, he did so quietly, not wanting to add to the turmoil. Now, he feels compelled to speak up, saying the reason he left was because museum leadership didn’t seem willing to fully account for its actions or to chart a sustainable path forward.
And he said he’s seeing the worst aspects of that anti-transparency mindset in the trustees’ ousting of trust member Fiorella Escalon, a Winter Park artist who has pushed for the museum to publicly release the full details of its internal investigation.
“She has the courage to do what’s right,” Whitlock said this week. “And I’m a big believer in doing what’s right.”
Whitlock is hardly a rabble rouser. He ran a seminary, for Pete’s sake. It’s obvious all this weighs heavily on him. But he said he cares too much about the museum to let it potentially collapse. “This is an important, valuable institution,” he said. “If we can get this back on track, think of the value long term.”
He’s not alone in that thinking. As the Sentinel reported last week, others who’ve joined the call for new leadership at the museum include retired appeals court judge and former museum trustee Winifred Sharp and former museum board chair William Forness. Hardly a junk-drawer caucus of outsiders.
Is it any surprise that people aren’t tripping over themselves to bail out the museum financially? And government surely shouldn’t do so until and unless things change. (Mayors Buddy Dyer and Jerry Demings have both been approached, but are standing by for now.)
Orlando Museum of Art faces financial crisis in wake of Basquiat scandal
Without a financial rescue, the museum could lumber toward a day when it is taken over by another group, possibly a local college or university. But it seems like this is salvageable.
The museum leadership — led by new director Cathryn Mattson and board chair Mark Elliott — say they can point to encouraging strides, including 135,000 visitors last year, above pre-pandemic levels. The museum also recently secured a $400,000 grant and is still staging its most prestigious event, hosting the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art.
Orlando Museum of Art drops ‘Basquiat’ owners from lawsuit — but not former director
It blames most of the Basquiat woes on former museum director Aaron De Groft, whom the museum is now suing, accusing him of conspiring with the artworks’ owners to inflate its worth. In a federal plea agreement, one of those involved already admitted to helping fake the artwork in “as little as five minutes.”
Yet even after the FBI first started asking questions, the museum showcased the work anyway. That’s the part Escalon has trouble understanding. So do I.
Museum leaders claim they didn’t oust Escalon for asking questions but rather for being rude to other board members and doing things like asking to see documents without an appointment. The horror.
They also object to her online petition on Change.org that calls for new board members and a new director, saying Escalon has generally demonstrated “contempt for the Museum’s leadership and governing board.”
Escalon takes issue with most of that, saying the museum leadership doesn’t like facing questions or hearing from those pushing for transparency. She’s also troubled more board members aren’t speaking up, deferring instead to high-paid lawyers and spin doctors while the museum’s financial problems mount.
“I love OMA. It’s our flagship institution,” she said. “But none of this is OK.”
That theme — about loving the museum — is something I’ve heard from every critic who has dared to speak up.
National pundits and art snobs may mock Orlando for being the little theme-park town that got conned. But most concerned locals not only care about the museum, they’ve poured their heart and finances into it. They’re people like developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg, who urged transparency and accountability from Day 1, saying: “You can’t just put your head in the sand and hope you sell lots of socks in the gift shop.”
The growing financial crisis seems to show Ginsburg and others are right.
I doubt anyone involved has ill intentions. But I am pretty convinced some of their actions are ill-advised. Covering up and lashing out isn’t a solution. Transparency and accountability is.
Yet instead of doing that, the museum is attacking and ousting one of its own volunteers and donors. Still, Escalon says she has no regrets, saying: “I believe that I have done the right thing.”
