Bellevue museum shuttered - Front Page - Brief Article

The Bellevue [Wash.] Art Museum made a surprising announcement in late September that it would close due to financial difficulties, The museum shut its doors on Sept. 30, three days after the opening of what turned out to be its last exhibition. Board president Rick Collette told the local press that the board will work with community leaders and expects to have a new business plan for the facility early next year, though be is non-committal about it remaining a museum. Of the museum's staff of 30, only three remain: the public relations director, registrar and chief financial officer. Spokesperson Barbara Jirsa said that, while the museum ran out of money for daily operating expenses, the building is paid off, and the museum, which does not maintain a permanent collection, is not carrying any bank debt.

In January 2001, as the dot-com economy was going bust, the museum, which began as a regional arts-and-crafts fair, opened in its new $23-million home, designed by Steven Holl--a big step up from its modest former quarters in a shopping mall. Though the building received accolades from the architecture community, many critics considered it inhospitable to the display of art. Others said that the museum's programming failed to attract a local audience that could support the museum.

The Bellevue's closure has drawn comparisons to the fate of the American Center in Paris, which shut down its $41-million, Frank Gehry-designed building in 1996, less than two years after opening. That building was purchased by the French government in 1998 and converted into the Maison du Cinema.

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