Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Lay Off 12 Staff Members

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which oversees the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor, announced on Friday the layoffs of 12 staff members.

“As with many of our local and global cultural institutions, we are navigating the ongoing effects of softening tourism and changing post-pandemic visitation patterns,” wrote Chief Marketing Officer Brooke Golden in an email.

A statement from FAMSF Director and CEO Thomas Campbell similarly noted decreased attendance from pre-pandemic levels — down from over 1.5 million visitors in 2018 to 1.2 million visitors in the 2024 fiscal year.

The layoffs represent 5% of the FAMSF staff. The museums receive 20% of their funding from the city of San Francisco. In the mayor’s June 1 budget proposal, the museums are set to receive $24.2 million in the 2025–26 fiscal year and $25.2 million in the 2026–27 fiscal year. These are small increases (1.9% and 4.1%, respectively) which provide a modicum of relief after museum officials feared 15% in funding cuts earlier this year.

Campbell added that the museum tried alternate methods to reduce costs, including reduced budgets, resource reallocation and programming changes, but “we concluded that a workforce reduction was necessary not only to close a projected budgetary gap but also to ensure our long term financial stability.”

The announcement follows the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s May 7 layoffs of 29 staff members (approximately 7.5% of the workforce) and the elimination of 13 open positions. Like Campbell, SFMOMA Director Christopher Bedford pointed to less tourism and a general shift away from social gathering.