PORTSMOUTH — The Museum of New Art, a downtown attraction complementing Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club on Congress Street, has suspended operations due to financial challenges.
Opened in October 2021, the museum reports it hosted more than 16,000 visitors and presented six exhibitions featuring local, regional and national artists. The museum was operated by a 501(c)(3) organization and leased space inside of 135 Congress St., the former YMCA building now owned by brothers Michael and Peter Labrie.
Suzanne Bresette, co-chairperson of the museum’s board, announced Thursday in a prepared statement the museum was shutting down. The notice is on the museum’s website.
“It is therefore with a heavy heart that I inform you that effective immediately MONA will suspend operations because of weakening revenue. We entered our 2023 season with optimism about our ability to meet our mission while maintaining our free admission policy for as long as possible, but we did not secure the contributions necessary to support the level of artistic programming we had planned for the end of 2023 and for 2024,” Bresette’s message reads.”Many of our sister visual arts organizations across the country are struggling with the same challenges. As they and we consider our futures as nonprofit arts organizations, we are hopeful that there may be a newly imagined way forward.
“For today, we at MONA remain grateful for the opportunity we had to bring excellent contemporary art to our neighbors and visitors for the past two years, and we remain committed to our belief in and passion for the transformational impact that the creative and cultural arts have on all of us, our families, and our community,” Bresette’s statement adds.
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According to her, the 501(c)(3) will remain in effect. With a renegotiated lease, the museum’s 2024 operational budget was $450,000.
Bresette credited her fellow board members and hailed their commitment to preserving the museum’s viability.
“MONA was trying to bring an exceptional and special visual arts experience to our community but the value and support of the community just was not there even after six amazing exhibitions. Such a loss,” Bresette said Friday.
A seventh new exhibition was slated to open on Jan. 26, though it was canceled prior to the museum suspending its operations.
With accessibility in mind and aspiring to reach all people, the Museum of New Art offered free admission and accepted donations at the door from visitors.
“This board worked so hard and really wanted to provide visual arts to the community and to the schools and so forth. It had an incredible mission,” Bresette added Friday.
‘We all tried really hard’
Michael Labrie, co-owner of the building since purchasing it for nearly $3 million in October 2016, confirmed the museum’s closure when reached for comment on Friday.
“We all tried really hard to make this museum succeed and unfortunately enough support wasn’t there,” he said.
The Museum of New Art is a tenant of the Labries in the historic building. Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club is not impacted by the suspension of museum operations.
The museum’s shuttering came less than one week after another downtown artistic venue, the Book & Bar on Pleasant Street, announced it would be closing on Jan. 28 after 12 years at the Custom House.
Fellow city nonprofit arts organization 3S Artspace released a statement Friday about the closure of the Museum of New Art, the Book & Bar, as well as the Museum of Art at the University of New Hampshire.
“We want to express to these organizations how much we appreciate all you’ve done for artists and for the public – particularly MONA, who shared in our mission of bringing contemporary arts to the community,” the 3S Artspace statement says. “We know how much work it takes and how difficult it is to secure adequate resources for the arts. You’ve all played an integral role in growing our vibrant arts scene and your presence will be missed.”
Between the Labries and the museum’s board, “there is a desire to keep that space with art and for community engagement, as well as events,” Bresette stated Friday.
“The Labries desire to continue to support arts and the community with the space but no plans are finalized at this time,” she said.
“Nonprofit arts organizations around the country are in peril. We need to make sure that we invest as a community in this sector. Advocacy for public funding for the arts, arts in our school systems, personal and corporate giving, and attendance at performances or exhibitions are all ways that everyone can help,” Bresette continued. “We are pausing for the moment to gather our thoughts and consider the future. We are grateful to everyone who has supported our artists and programming and look forward to what is next.”
The museum’s final exhibition displayed paintings from deceased artist George Rodrigue, who died in 2013.