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# Week in Review: Museums Cautiously Re-open, Survey Says 95% of Artists Lost Income During Pandemic
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-museums-cautiously-re-open-survey-says-95-of-artists-lost-income-during-pandemic/
- Published: 2020-05-01T11:00:01.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:57.000Z
- Description: Also, Sotheby’s and Google are holding an online charity auction to raise money for International Rescue Committee, and more.
- Author: Cassie Packard
- Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:41 (2019, 2020, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/04/theasmall-e1588105165324.jpg)

A work by New Orleans based artist Thea Gahr designed with 2019 PPC fellows. (Image courtesy the People’s Paper Co-op)

*Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://hyperallergic.com/newsletters?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.*

A [spreadsheet highlights major income disparities at cultural institutions](https://hyperallergic.com/spreadsheet-highlights-major-income-disparities-at-cultural-institutions/). According to a document by the group Indebted Cultural Workers, MoMA director Glenn Lowry takes home about 48 times the salary of an education assistant at the museum.

A group of [staff furloughed from the San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMOMA) penned an open letter](https://hyperallergic.com/furloughed-sfmoma-staff-ask-director-to-draw-salary-of-zero-to-retain-workers/) to director Neal Benezra and members of the executive cabinet asking the museum to retain its staff through economic measures like deaccessioning artwork and Benezra temporarily drawing a salary of zero.

Formerly incarcerated women and artists across the US are collaborating for an arts sale to create prints and other works to [help free jailed Black mothers and caregivers by Mother’s Day](https://hyperallergic.com/free-black-mamas/).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/04/4550635554_5654d631a4_o.jpg)

The China Art Museum in Shanghai (lucia wang/Flickr)

A look into the [cautious reopening of museums worldwide](https://hyperallergic.com/museums-covid-19/): institutions in the United States remain shuttered, but museums in Germany have begun to cautiously open their doors, and museums in Hong Kong were forced to close for a second time due to a second wave.

According to a [survey by Americans for the Arts and Artist Relief](https://hyperallergic.com/95-of-us-artists-have-lost-income-due-to-pandemic-survey-says/), 95% of US artists have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2020/04/9803_0004_web.jpg)

From Khamsah. / خمسه by Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203 ‏نظامى گنجوى،‏ (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology)

The Cincinnati-based nonprofit FotoFocus has canceled its 2020 biennial and is [promising its $800,000 budget to Midwestern arts organizations.](https://hyperallergic.com/fotofocus-cancels-2020-biennial-donates-budget-to-midwestern-arts-organizations/)

The Tri-State Relief Fund for non-salaried arts workers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will give [$2,000 grants to freelance and contracted workers](https://hyperallergic.com/tri-state-relief-fund/), including art handlers, archivists, and others.

[Access rare paintings and “manuscripts of the Muslim world”](https://hyperallergic.com/manuscripts-of-the-muslim-world/) through the University of Pennsylvania’s digital library.

## Transactions

**Sotheby’s** and **Google** are jointly holding an [online charity auction](https://news.artnet.com/market/sothebys-google-team-auction-1846170?ref=hyperallergic.com) to raise money for humanitarian aid group **International Rescue Committee**. Lots of interest include a virtual artmaking session with **Mark Quinn** and coffee with **Hillary Clinton**.

Swedish art advisory **CFHill** is [privately selling “Eldslågor (Fiery Flames)](https://news.artnet.com/market/hilma-af-klint-sale-cf-hill-1845789?ref=hyperallergic.com),” a watercolor made in 1930 by **Hilma af Klint**, who gifted the work to textile artists Elsa and Magda Jerud. The piece, which sold for $2,000 at auction in 1988, has an estimate of $300,000–500,000.

At **Sotheby’s** an Art Deco “Tutti Frutti” **Cartier** bracelet [sold for $1.34 million](https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2020/04/28/regal-cartier-tutti-frutti-bracelet-reaches-1-3m-in-sothebys-online-jewelry-sale/?ref=hyperallergic.com), well over its estimate of $600,000–800,000\. The multicolored bracelet set the record as the most expensive piece of jewelry that the auction house has sold online, and inspired the fantastic headline [“Bored Rich People Are Shopping Online For $500,000 Bracelets](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-22/bored-rich-people-are-buying-250-000-jewels-online?ref=hyperallergic.com).”

## This Week in the Art World

The **Chicago Artists Coalition** has awarded $61,000 in unrestricted funding to 28 artists. | [Chicago Artist Coalition](https://chicagoartistscoalition.org/press/chicago-artists-coalition-announces-awardees-for-spark-grant-maker-grant-and-coney-family-fund-award?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The shortlist of winners of the **“LACMA not LackMA”** competition was announced. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/activists-select-winners-of-guerilla-competition-for-new-lacma-design-82909?ref=hyperallergic.com)

Curator **Deborah Cullen-Morales** is the new program officer for arts and cultural heritage at the **Andrew W. Mellon Foundation** in New York City. | [The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation](https://mellon.org/news-blog/articles/deborah-cullen-morales-appointed-new-program-officer-andrew-w-mellon-foundation/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Schubert Foundatio**n named **Diana Phillips** as its president. | [*PR Newswire*](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diana-phillips-named-president-of-the-shubert-foundation-301043883.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Myriam Ben Salah** will serve as Executive Director and Chief Curator of the **Renaissance Society** at the University of Chicago. | [*e-flux*](https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/327537/myriam-ben-salah-named-executive-director-and-chief-curator/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Weatherspoon Art Museum** at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro appointed **Juliette Bianco** as its new Director. | [*Greensboro News & Record*](https://www.greensboro.com/news/education/uncg-appoints-new-director-for-the-weatherspoon-art-museum/article%5F43a2b911-59a1-5c32-a483-953096d36e0c.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

Art historian **Nadine Oberste-​Hetbleck** has been named the Director of the **Documenta Archiv** in Kassel. | [Documenta Archiv](https://www.documenta-archiv.de/en/information/presse/2176/documenta-ggmbh-enlists-dr-nadine-oberste-hetbleck-as-new-director-of-the-documenta-archiv?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Christopher Carter, Daniel Salas,** and **Sebastien Scemla** have joined the board of trustees at the **Museum of Contemporary Art** in North Miami. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/museum-of-contemporary-art-north-miami-welcomes-new-trustees-82793?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **Montreal Museum of Fine Arts** appointed **Iris Amizlev** as its inaugural curator of intercultural arts. | [Montreal Museum of Fine Arts](https://drive.google.com/file/d/135hN9E%5FHVzvL%5FbDIhNkoQJ06lDsAKj1I/view?ref=hyperallergic.com)

## In Memoriam

**Eavan Boland** (1944–2020), Irish poet and educator | [*The New Yorker*](https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/eavan-boland-in-the-new-yorker?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Germano Celant** (1940–2020), Italian art historian and critic | [Artnet](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/germano-celant-death-1847856?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Yves Corbassière** (1925–2020), French Action painter | [France Info](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/arts-expos/peinture/yves-corbassiere-peintre-abstrait-de-l-espace-est-mort-a-94-ans%5F3937387.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Tina Girouard (**1946–2020), performance and video artist | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/tina-girouard-1946-2020-82795?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Iris Love** (1933–2020), archaeologist and dog breeder | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/nyregion/iris-love-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Mario César Romero** (1942–2020), Harlem art historian | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/obituaries/mario-cesar-romero-dead-coronavirus.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Paul J. Smith (**1931–2020), curator and museum director | [*ARTnews*](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/paul-j-smith-dead-1202685184/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Fred the Godson** (1985–2020), rapper | [VICE](https://www.vice.com/en%5Fus/article/v7495y/remembering-fred-the-godson-pioneer-of-punchlines?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Ian Wilson** (1940–2020), conceptual artist | [*ARTnews*](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ian-wilson-dead-1202684260/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Betsy James Wyeth** (1921–2020), collaborator of painter Andrew Wyeth | [*The Art Newspaper*](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/betsy-wyeth-wife-and-collaborator-to-andrew-wyeth-has-died-aged-98?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Zarina** (1937–2020), Indian-American printmaker | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/zarina-1937-2020-82843?ref=hyperallergic.com)