Politics

Why Is DIA Director Graham Beal Selling His Detroit Home?

February 04, 2014, 9:04 AM

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Robert Snell reports in the Detroit News that the Detroit Institute of Arts gave executives pay hikes, and granted a $155,000 loan to Director Graham Beal, while it campaigned for a regional property tax and faced a pension shortfall of $7 million, according to its financial records.

Snell also discovered Beal has put his 6,000-square-foot Palmer Woods house on the market. Asking price: $525,000. A DIA spokeswoman declined comment on what that might suggest for Beal's future at the museum.

Snell writes:

The museum’s finances are coming into focus at a time when private foundations and the state have mounted an unprecedented $720 million plan to shield the museum’s artwork from bankruptcy creditors and bolster Detroit municipal pensions. The DIA, after initially rebuffing calls to contribute $100 million toward the plan, reversed course last week and agreed to raise the money.

The DIA’s tax filings indicate salaries and compensation for top executives have climbed 17 percent since 2010. That’s somewhat greater than increases at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, and substantially greater than at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Neither of those institutions is getting rescue money.

Financial records also reveal museum executives have received more than $130,000 in bonuses in recent years. Most of the money — $103,000 — was awarded to Beal.


Read more:  Detroit News


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