Photo by Tarquin Binary, courtesy WikiCommons

London's ICA plans to shed staff to regain its financial footing.

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ICA administrators have reportedly told staff members that a £600,000 ($968,000) budget deficit could balloon to £1.2 million ($1.9 million) by May, and that if £1 million ($1.6 million) in budget cuts are not made in coming months, the museum may be forced to close. The museum says that it plans to announce job cuts by the end of March.

Director Ekow Eschun says that the budget problem is the result of a drop in fund-raising during the recession. An October 2008 fund-raiser featuring works donated by artists including Damien Hirst raised only £673,000 ($952,000), well short of the £1.3 million ($1.8 million) it hoped to collect.

For those seeking a scapegoat, that sum is about one percent of the total number that Hirst brought at his single-artist auction at Sotheby’s the previous month.

Read more the Guardian.