Last year the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) hired a new executive director and CEO who came highly recommended and well-credentialed.
Along with our new director came the promise of new and remarkable exhibitions for the OMA. Imagine the excitement generated internally and throughout the community when we, with the new director, announced that OMA would open a significant, never-before-seen exhibition of works by world-renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat called Heroes and Monsters. Our excitement shifted in late July 2021 when the museum received a grand-jury subpoena for records and documents regarding the Basquiat exhibit.
At that time, our then-director repeatedly assured us — through the presentation of documentary evidence — that highly qualified art experts had vetted the authenticity of the pieces in the Heroes and Monsters exhibition. Our director presented us with several authentication reports, specifically one from Diego Cortez, the now-deceased man widely credited with “discovering” Basquiat and who served on Basquiat’s estate’s official authentication committee. Based on this and the other reports, our director reassured us that everything was in order.
And so, in February, the Basquiat exhibition opened to great fanfare. The community came to see the works and celebrate that we had brought global attention to the museum and the Orlando art scene.
The OMA Board and staff continue to feel the embarrassment from the FBI’s seizure of the works in the Heroes and Monsters exhibition and subsequent negative attention. We are continuing to process and grapple with the notion that something we were so happy about has become the source of ill will within the museum family and our beloved community.
Now, we are re-evaluating all exhibitions planned by our former director and focusing on lining up exhibits for 2024, when we will celebrate our Centennial. Additionally, the OMA Board has formed a task force led by OMA Trustees Mark Elliott and Nancy Wolf. This task force is focused on reviewing museum policies and procedures designed to help vet exhibitions.
We have also announced the return of Dr. Luder Whitlock as interim director. Under Dr. Whitlock’s steady command, the museum has begun to move beyond recent events and focus on the future.
In the meantime, we ask for understanding and call on the collective goodwill of the Orlando community as we continue to reorganize. We extend our deepest thanks to our supporters and ask the community to continue to stand by us as we work to rebuild a solid future.
Cynthia Brumback is the chair of the Board of Trustees for the Orlando Museum of Art.
