Tacoma Art Museum at leadership crossroads at a time when employees work to unionize

A leadership vacuum at Tacoma Art Museum has left the institution without a permanent executive director, and soon it will have only one of its three curators left. The changes come while its staff tries to unionize — an effort the museum’s board has rejected

Executive director David Setford and TAM split ways in September.

“It was, I think, the best step forward for us and for David,” TAM board president Jeff Williams said. “I think we just needed to move in a different direction. I think we were kind of wanting a leader that would be a little more involved in the community and things like that.”

Setford was hired in January 2018 from the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He replaced longtime TAM executive director Stephanie Stebich, who left for the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2017.

Setford was just the museum’s seventh director in its 87-year history. He arrived after the opening of a new wing to house the Haub Family Collection of Western American Art and during the construction of another wing built to house the Benaroya art collection.

With the acquisition of the Benaroya collection and TAM’s existing extensive Dale Chihuly collection, the museum became a major player in the studio art glass movement. The increased emphasis on glass and the TAM board’s desire to develop stronger outreach to the general community were two important factors in hiring Setford, the board said at the time.

After Setford’s departure, TAM formed a search committee made of trustees and a person from the community but no rank-and-file TAM employees.

“We’ve been working with a search firm to conduct a nationwide search,” Williams said. “The hope is that we would have somebody in that position sometime in March.”

This week, Helen McGovern-Pilant began her first full week as interim executive director, Williams said. She formerly headed the Emergency Food Network, worked as interim CEO at Work Force Central and runs a consulting business. She will fill the position until a permanent hire can be made.

Curatorial staff

In addition to the Western and glass collections, TAM has an extensive permanent collection. It organizes original shows and hosts traveling exhibits. As recently as 2020 the museum had three curators.

Rock Hushka served as chief curator, while Margaret Bullock served as curator of special exhibition and collections. Faith Brower was in charge of the Haub collection.

Hushka, who also served as deputy director and special projects director, left in May 2020. His vacancy was never filled, Williams said, because Setford had a strong curatorial background and was able to fill that void.

Bullock, who was subsequently named chief curator, has announced her intention to leave TAM in early 2023.

“She’s amazing,” Williams said. “(If) we had our choice, Margaret would never leave.”

The future make-up of TAM’s curatorial leadership has yet to be determined.

“We want to leave that up to our next executive director to decide how that department is structured,” Williams said.

Unionization

Employees began their union efforts last spring and announced in October they were organizing. They invited TAM’s board to voluntarily recognize their union, TAM Workers United (TAMWU). The board declined.

In a statement, TAM’s board acknowledged that its staff has legitimate grievances over personnel management and workplace equity.

“There was a lack of communication and a lack of emphasis on listening to employees and making sure that there was good communication in the organization,” Williams told The News Tribune. “I think there was lack of proper training and a lack of experience, basically, on David’s part to manage through that process.”

Setford did not respond to inquiries from The News Tribune regarding this story.

“I’m heartened to hear that we are recognizing the same kind of challenging cultural elements at the museum,” said Eden Redmond, a member of TAMWU’s organizing committee.

Williams said the lack of leadership at TAM, a human resources director on maternity leave and “a lot of transition happening right now” made the unionization effort ill-timed.

Redmond said the group’s grievances reflect longstanding issues and not the current leadership comings and goings.

“I think my colleagues and I felt the effects of not having strong leadership and not having clear training for staff and not having consistent procedures, protocols and opportunities for evaluation,” Redmond said.

TAM’s board is not opposed to unionization. It just wants to wait until a new executive director is installed, Williams said.

TAMWU says it has over 80 percent support among the museum’s employees and they don’t need the board to recognize it. The museum currently has 43 employees. It had 56 when Setford arrived.

“If TAM workers need to create their union that way, without the good will of their employer, they are determined to do it,” TAMWU said in a statement.

Redmond, an institutional giving manager at TAM, said TAMWU is asking for livable wages for employees but declined to state a monetary figure. The pay range for visitor services is $15.50-$17.50 per hour, a spokesperson for TAM said.

TAMWU is asking for health care for all staff at the museum. Currently, some workers’ hours are capped under 30 hours per week, making them ineligible for benefits.

Carrie Morton was one of those workers who had her hours capped until recently when she was made store manager. In her previous role in visitor services she saw how low wages affected employee staffing levels. The department staffs the front desk and keeps watch in galleries.

“We started out this summer with about 10 people or so, which still made it a little harder to watch the museum,” she said. As the summer progressed, staff took jobs elsewhere, looking for higher wages, she said.

“So we were watching huge parts of the galleries and the museum,” Morton said.

The union also wants clear protocols for evaluations in order to build professional development on staff and as an opportunity for raises, Redmond said.

Finances

The COVID-19 pandemic created revenue shortfalls for TAM, as it did for similar organizations. A recent fundraising campaign is reversing that, Williams said. Its annual gala returned in person this year and raised over $330,000. But museum attendance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

TAM’s total revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021 was $4.98 million, up from $3.62 million in the prior year, according to its tax return. It had $5.12 million in expenses and net assets of $67 million in 2021.

Setford’s salary was $195,000.

TAM Revenue by Category

Endowment Income: 39%

Major Gifts: 12%

Special Events: 8%

Government Grants: 7%

Foundation Grants: 7%

Individual Contributions/Membership: 6%

Business Contributions: 4%

Store Income: 4%

Café Income: 4%

Trustee Contributions: 3%

Admissions: 3%

Facility Rental: 2%

Parking Income: 2%

Education Programs: 1%

Art Loans and Shipping: 0%

Budget dated: 11/15/2022