INDIANAPOLIS— To trim its costs, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) will have its employees take a week of unpaid leave. This is not the first of the IMA’s cost saving decisions. In January it instituted a salary freeze for all of its 289 full- and part-time employees, cut $1.7 million from its operating budget, and delayed construction work on its $25 million sculpture park. As a result of these cuts, the museum also implemented a 10 percent reduction of its staff in February.

IMA spokeswoman Katie Zarich said that these decisions were not a result of the museum’s endowment falling from $383 million in spring 2008 to $307 million in February 2009. Instead, she said that the moves were based on projected three-year trends and the assumption that fund raising contributions will be down given the current economic climate.

The museum’s exhibition schedule will not be altered by these cuts and the institution will continue to offer free admission.

Read More at the IndyStar.