The Dallas Museum of Art on Tuesday laid off 20 employees and reduced two full-time jobs to part-time in what amounted to an 8% reduction in its staff.

The cuts come amid an ongoing era of retrenchment in the cultural arts. Dallas arts groups have not been immune. Five months ago, the Dallas Theater Center announced layoffs to avoid entering the new fiscal year with a deficit, it said. The DMA says it too is trimming jobs to prevent a shortfall.

“In order to move towards a sustainable future,” museum leadership said in a press release, “the DMA has taken difficult but necessary steps to realign our programs, operations and budget to ensure the museum can continue to serve our communities for generations to come.”

The DMA will also curtail the hours it is open to the public. Starting Dec. 1, the museum will open its doors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It will eliminate public hours on Tuesdays.

Museum director Agustín Arteaga addressed the changes by saying in a statement: “Our staff’s talent, efforts and dedication to the DMA is unrivaled. These changes, while difficult, will help us realign our programs and staff to current circumstances and build a strong foundation so we can continue serving our constituencies now and in the future.”

The DMA also cited the obvious, the pandemic, which has made operating an arts institution increasingly vexing since March 2020: “While we have not made these decisions lightly, like many nonprofit arts organizations in Dallas and around the country, the DMA must adjust to new realities in a post-pandemic world, including rising costs, expiration of government funding and audiences not yet returning to pre-pandemic levels.”

And yet earlier this year, the DMA announced the hiring of the Spanish architectural firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos as lead designers for the most significant expansion of its building in decades, intended to “reimagine” its Arts District home.

The expansion will be the first U.S. project undertaken by the Spanish firm and among its largest to date, with an estimated budget that hovers between $150 million and $175 million.

The DMA management team is also seeking $36 million from the city’s upcoming bond program, which it says is needed to address the museum’s flawed security apparatus, cited as the culprit for a burglary in 2022 that left four artworks broken. The remainder of the $36 million would go toward other “critical needs, such as HVAC, the fire control system and electrical improvements,” according to museum spokeswoman Aschelle Morgan.

Asked about the timing of the layoffs, Arteaga said in a statement, “Our 40-year-old building has outdated systems and infrastructure in great need of repair, but most importantly, we need updated facilities that can better serve our growing constituencies, today and in the future. Just as we are aligning our staff and operations, we are also aligning our facility to the next chapter of the DMA. Addressing our critical facility needs as well as the expansion are a vital part of the DMA’s plans for a sustainable future.”

In outlining other key points for its recovery, the DMA listed four:

• Reorganizing staff and operations to focus more on earned revenue.
• Decreasing operating expenses.
• Implementing hiring freezes.
• “Leaning into the strength of our permanent collection — including works that have not been on view in some time — and presenting them in interesting exhibitions.”