What’s the deal at the MoCA in North Miami?

The public battle between the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami and the city of North Miami has been going on for several months. The ugly dispute has led both parties into mediation to resolve the issues regarding mission, ownership of the collection, maintenance of the facility and management. The situation erupted between the museum’s board and the city back in December of 2013, when rumors emerged that the board had been in talks with the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach to move the collection there. The city opposed the board’s plans to move the MoCA’s art collection to the Bass on the premise that the city owns the building housing the collection. City Council members ordered staffers in March to do “whatever is necessary” to keep the museum in North Miami. In April, MoCA’s board filed suit alleging that the city was in breach of contract for failing to maintain, support and secure the museum.

At the center of the controversy are two museum directors. The interim director of the MoCA North Miami is Alex Gartenfeld, who has been acting as an interim director in place of the previous, longstanding director, Bonnie Clearwater, who left in the Summer of 2013 to oversee the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. Since then, the city of North Miami nominated their own museum director, Mr. Babacar M’Bow. The Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art dismissed the City of North Miami’s nomination for a new museum director. The Board provided the city’s candidate, Mr. Babacar M’Bow, with a two-week window to participate in a standard background check, which is a required step in evaluating the credentials of candidates for the position. The Board says that Mr. M’Bow did not comply with the background check and is therefore no longer under consideration for the position. But the city says that as the museum director, Mr. M’Bow is a city employee, and just like every other city employee, the city already conducted a thorough background check of Mr. M’Bow. It is the role of the Board to approve the director of MoCA based upon his or her qualifications as it pertains to art expertise and curatorial experience. The matter of museum director has still not been resolved and in the meantime, Alex Gartenfeld continues to serve in his dual position as interim director and chief curator with the full support of the Board, while Babacar M’Bow stands as the city-appointed director. 

In following this debacle at the MoCA in North Miami, and from the assortment of news articles that we’ve read, including the people we’ve spoken to, this is what we’ve been able to ascertain. The Board wants to move from the current location in North Miami and merge with the Bass Museum in Miami Beach, bringing the museum’s 600 piece permanent collection with them, because they claim sole jurisdiction over the collection. The Board also wants to use the vacated space in North Miami as an outpost for museum programming, which they would have control over.

So what’s the deal at the MoCA in North Miami? It appears that the legal dispute over who controls the museum’s collection and whether it will be relocated from its current home to Miami Beach’s Bass Museum may finally be coming to an end. The dispute began in December and escalated quickly, creating tension within the community, causing issues of culture, class and money to surface.  As it stands now, the Board of the MoCA and the City of North Miami are working towards a settlement. The outcome hinges on mediation and both parties are seeking a fair resolution.