Seven people were laid off at the University of Washington's contemporary art museum last Friday, the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger reports.

The cuts were unannounced; The Stranger learned of them through an anonymous source. In October, the museum's new director Sylvia Wolf told the newspaper that the museum was having financial difficulty.

The Henry Art Gallery is a private nonprofit but also receives money from the school. A total of 42 percent comes from the university in the form of facilities and funds, while 10 percent comes from the museum's endowment and the rest comes from admissions and other income and from grants and donations.

The layoffs, according to the source, included the registrar, membership manager, communications assistant, graphic designer, development assistant, gallery attendant, and programming and events coordinator. Most were full-time and several had been at the museum for five years or more.

"The Henry's in a downward spiral," the source said. "There will probably be more layoffs."