Organizational Strengths

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art's structure is unique, to say the least. It exists as a nonprofit organization, one of three branches of the Scottsdale Cultural Council, which itself was created as a nonprofit to administer arts and culture in the city of Scottsdale by the city government.

The (minimal) government funding does provide the organization with some amount of stability. But it certainly doesn't hurt that the museum and its sister organizations are identified with arguably Phoenix's wealthiest suburb. While delegation of responsibilities does help the SMoCA to focus on itself at times, it does lead to bureaucratic difficulties, especially when pursuing an exhibition or performance that might be considered "controversial."

To be clear, SMoCA itself has an excellent, kind, welcoming, intelligent, and dynamic staff. However, as a program of the Cultural Council, this means all its smaller decisions are subject to bigger scrutiny. This has been especially true in recent years as the Cultural Council has gone through a handful of different Presidents/CEOs, making that kind of stability difficult to achieve. Therefore, frustrations with this upper management are not uncommon.

Managing such a dynamic museum is a difficult proposition. As with any public/private partnership, some things get lost in translation, and I have seen this happen several times as both an outside observer and intern at the museum. So, while I could note that I would prefer the museum be an independent entity, the kinds of partnerships which have occurred between branches of the Scottsdale Cultural Council (see: Canal Convergence, This is a Present From a Small Distant World, etc.), the pros far outweigh the cons.