Press

Hyperallergic

“A group of current and former workers of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York is calling for the immediate resignation or removal of the museum’s top leadership. The group, called A Better Guggenheim, sent a letter to the museum today, September 16, listing allegations of sexism, racism, classism, and abuse against Richard Armstrong, Director; Elizabeth Duggal, Senior Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer; and Nancy Spector, Artistic Director and Chief Curator.”

The New York Times

“A Better Guggenheim,” called for the immediate resignations of several top officials including Mr. Armstrong, chief operating officer Elizabeth Duggal and Nancy Spector, artistic director and chief curator.

“Our documentation of this ecosystem of abuse shows members of senior leadership have not met their job responsibilities,” wrote the group of employees. “Still, the board remains silent.”

The Art Newspaper

“In a statement addressed to the museum’s board of trustees and staff and to their own allies, the group, called A Better Guggenheim, said that the director, Richard Armstrong; senior deputy director and chief operating officer, Elizabeth Duggal; and artistic director and chief curator, Nancy Spector, should be removed if they do not step down.”

ARTNews

“The activist group A Better Guggenheim published an open letter calling for the resignation of the museum’s three top officials.”

HR Dive

“A Better Guggenheim collective submitted a letter June 29 to the museum’s board of trustees, the collective said in an emailed statement to HR Dive. Written by a diverse cross-departmental group of employees, the letter was signed by 169 current and former staff members dissenting from Guggenheim Director Richard Armstrong’s June 7 and 9 statements, the collective said. Armstrong’s failure to mention Black Lives Matter was “an inexcusable omission,” according to the letter. The collective seeks to end the museum’s “deep culture of fear and create a work environment where we all, especially our [Black, Indigenous and people of color] BIPOC colleagues, feel safe, supported and respected,” according to the emailed statement. The letter currently has 226 signatures.”

The New York Times

“At the Guggenheim, the director, Richard Armstrong, took a 25 percent cut in pay. But the group A Better Guggenheim — made up of current and former staff members — in a July 23 Instagram post called on Mr. Armstrong, who earned $1.4 million a year in compensation in 2018, to take a deeper cut “instead of continuing to target the museum’s most vulnerable staff” with furloughs.”

The New York Times

“In June, nearly 100 current and 100 former employees, under the name “A Better Guggenheim,” sent trustees a letter claiming that executives had created a “culture of institutional racism” at the museum and mistreated Chaédria LaBouvier, a guest curator of the Basquiat show. The investigation is expected to conclude in the fall.”

Blooloop

“The diversity plan comes after nearly 100 current and 100 former employees sent trustees a letter, ‘A Better Guggenheim‘, claiming that bosses had created a ‘culture of institutional racism’.

The letter also claimed that executives has mistreated Chaédria LaBouvier, a guest curator of the Jean-Michel Basquiat show.”

The Art Newspaper

“A subsequent letter to the museum’s board of trustees signed by 220 current and former employees urged it ‘to work with us to dismantle the systemic racism in our institution.’”