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The museum director was terminated via email for “cause” this morning.
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Sasha Suda / Photograph courtesy of Philadelphia Art Museum
At 9:03 this morning, the CEO of the newly rebranded Philadelphia Art Museum, Sasha Suda, got word via email that she was being terminated for “cause” — and that the board wished her “every success” in her future endeavors.
At 10:30 a.m., the board met, seemingly to be advised on what, exactly, the cause is.
Suda, who has been leading a change campaign at the museum since she arrived in 2022, reportedly has both supporters and detractors on the board: As the Philadelphia Citizen noted in August, “some longtime board members” have been unhappy with Suda “for focusing — too much, they say — on inclusion, for what they consider a narrow focus when it comes to exhibitions, and for a slow start to fundraising.”
This year, Suda debuted The Time is Always Now, an exhibition featuring contemporary African American artists, and launched the Brind Center for African and African Diaspora Art. She was also instrumental in securing a joint exhibit with PAFA on A Nation of Artists, 120 American masterpieces from Phillies managing partner and principal owner John Middleton and his wife Leigh, whose collection is considered among the best in the world. She has in the last couple of weeks been criticized and praised for the rebranding and renaming of the former Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Much is at stake for the museum and the city on the cusp of the Semiquincentennial next year, as well as for Suda — a Canadian citizen who is in the U.S. on a work visa.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more on this.
