Climate change activists have concluded a 25-hour long protest against the Tate Modern’s sponsorship by British Petroleum, writing messages and critics on the Turbine Hall floor after facing down a potential use of police force that was not acted upon.  “It’s a back-down,” says Liberate Tate member and writer Mel Evans. “Maybe it’s a sign of how much the groundswell of public opinion has shifted that the Tate doesn’t feel like they can shut down this discussion.”

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Another article on the Obama Presidency’s attack on 1031 “Like-Kind” Exchanges is on Bloomberg this week, focusing on collector Steven Edlis and his use of the loophole to acquire works he then donates.  “Stefan Edlis has been generous but many people who will take advantage of this will not be generous,”says critic Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art. (more…)

The Metropolitan Opera, currently in need of cash, has collateralized two of its Marc Chagall works as part of a line of credit from Bank of America.  The organization has placed The Triumph of Music and The Sources of Music as collateral, both of which hang in its lobby, until it can balance its budget. “Recent changes at the Met – including the implementation of our historic new union agreements, and a program of institution-wide cost controls – are expected to lead to balanced budgets in fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016 while significantly strengthening the long-term financial prospects of the institution,”  says Met spokesman Sam Neuman. (more…)

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (Macro) is reportedly facing a financial crisis, after government officials slashed the museum budget from from €350,000 in 2013 to €61,000 this year.  “The exhibitions are programmed, and funded, until spring 2015… We spend very little on the shows as we have several sponsors,” says former president Alberta Campitelli. (more…)

In the wake of Cooper Union’s contentious decision to begin charging admission, The New York Times has published an in-depth study of the school’s finances, particularly its ownership of the land under the Chrysler Building.  While the land earns a rent of $9 Million a year, it would be difficult to sell in an emergency, yet comprises 84% of the school’s assets.  Combined with the debts accrued for the construction of the school’s new campus building, the article paints a bleak picture of the storied institution’s finances.  “There was never any sense of giving back. Cooper never asked. We always thought Cooper didn’t need the money because it had the Chrysler Building. Forty years ago, I would have stressed to students that someone had to make it possible for you to come here for free.”  Says trustee Thomas Driscoll. (more…)

More conflicts have come to light in the recent dispute between the board members of the Cy Twombly Foundation.  A lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Delaware state court, accuses director Thomas Saliba and lawyer Ralph Lerner of taking an unauthorized $300,000 in investment fees from the organization.  “Lerner and Saliba have refused to provide a copy of the trust or disclose their trustee commissions, which makes it impossible to confirm the extent of their wrongdoing, but the facts currently known raise very serious questions about Lerner’s and Saliba’s conduct,” the lawsuit said. (more…)

In a new twist to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s current fiscal problems, MOCA is reportedly in talks for a partnership with the National Gallery, a development that casts doubts on that museum’s possible acquisition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  The discussed plan between MOCA and the National Gallery would open the door to collaborations on exhibition and research, but would do little to alleviate MOCA’s financial woes.  “The goal at this point is stabilizing them and get them standing as an independent institution,” says National Gallery chair John Wilmerding. “We’d like to see them survive and thrive, and if we can help them, that’s all we’re doing.” (more…)