Milwaukee Public Museum Increases Assets During Pandemic

The Milwaukee Public Museum increased its total net assets by over $250,000 from their fiscal year-end in 2019 to 2020, despite being shut down for over five months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“With cutting payroll and all the expenses, we were able to make sure we had a good cash position, and a surplus in the process,” said Vice President of Operations and Finance, Ryan O’Desky to the Milwaukee County Finance Committee at a Dec. 10 meeting.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic forcing MPM to close their doors, overall revenue was down $2 million, according to the year-end financial report. By going virtual, MPM was able to save $700,000 in salaries and wages alone, according to the year-end financial report. Overall, MPM was able to increase their total net assets by $278,733. This was a stark contrast to the previous year in which MPM’s total net assets decreased by a little over $1.1 million, according to the year-end financial report.

The museum was able to re-open to the public in mid-August while adhering to strict Covid-19 guidelines to keep visitors safe, according to MPM President and CEO Dr. Ellen Censky. From Thursday through Saturday each week people were able to see most of the exhibits. MPM had to close down again a week before Thanksgiving, according to Dr. Censky. According to Milwaukee city order 4.2, the museum was restricted to having only 10 people inside at a time. Due to these restrictions the museum was closed for the foreseeable future, according to Dr. Censky.

“Being closed doesn’t mean we aren’t still serving the public,” said Dr. Censky. “We once again went over to all the virtual programing we had been doing.”

Going virtual was a big part of MPM’s plan to curtail costs during the pandemic while still engaging with Milwaukee residents. According to MPM’s financial year-end report, “since March when we closed to the public, MPM touched over 1.5 million citizens.” MPM was able to directly connect with people through utilizing social media and working with school teachers, according to the year-end financial report as well.

“We got our community of curiosity in which, every month, we roll out new programs that are focused on a specific topic,” said Dr. Censky. “This month’s topic is traditions, so it’s around all of the holiday traditions.”

Other programs available to the public include virtual tours, planetarium shows and guest lecturers among many other things, according to Dr. Censky.

The work that is being done virtually is important just to remain relevant for the museum. Currently MPM has plans on moving locations to Sixth and McKinley due to worsening conditions at the current location, as reported by Milwaukeemag.com.

Issues with MPM’s current building include replacing the fire safety system, repairing a leak in the dome theatre roof and issues with a moving wall between a first-floor bathroom and stairwell, according to O’Desky. According to O’Desky, efforts are being made to fix conditions at the current location while being cost effective.

“Through all the great work at the county we found a way to not have to do a full replacement of [the fire safety system] which will save the county some money, and be able to save some time and energy,” said O’Desky.

While O’Desky is confident this alternative will be approved, he said it is still under consideration by the county and a full replacement of the fire safety system could still take place.

O’Desky said he is also hoping that issues with the dome theatre roof can be sorted out quickly as it had just been repaired.

“The repair started in September of 2019 and we thought we were done,” said O’Desky. “But, all of the sudden for the last few months there has been leaks again.”

Currently, the county and council are working with contractors to make sure the leaks are taken care of, according to O’Desky.

According to O’Desky, money has been set aside in the budget for next year so that issue of the moving wall between the bathroom and stairwell can be properly investigated over the next couple of months. According to O’Desky, the investigation will determine how big of an issue the wall is for the building itself.

After O’desky finished summarizing MPM’s year-end financial report for the committee the meeting was open for questions. Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde took the chance to ask Dr. Censky about MPM’s move and how they will work with current residents who are worried about potentially being displaced.

“We are excited to be in the community to be able to provide direct resources to the community,” said Dr. Censky. “We have started to reach out to that community to make sure they are involved in the planning of the museum.”