Funding for American art museums has undergone significant changes in the past 20 years. In particular, federal and corporate giving have substantially declined following the Great Recession. These changes impact museums’ ability to secure funding for exhibitions. This study addresses how funding scarcity affects American art museums, specifically with regard to staff’s ability to execute their own tasks and the strategies of action they use to compensate for these changes. Drawing from literature on resource scarcity, I explore how funding declines have prompted museum staff to use “strategic cooperation” as a means of diversifying limited financial resources. Moreover, using interviews with curators and development officers, I identify three cooperative strategies they may use: coordinating inter‐professional activities, pooling professional knowledge, and finding creative financial solutions. These findings add to work on resource scarcity by identifying inter‐group cooperation as a diversification strategy. More importantly, I add to this literature by specifically identifying multiple forms of strategic cooperation individuals may employ to combat resource scarcity. Finally, while literature on the arts has focused on museums’ propensity for inter‐professional conflict during times of duress, my work demonstrates that, despite this, cooperative action is a present and viable strategy in cultural organizations.

中文翻译：

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节俭时代的艺术：美国美术馆的稀缺性，合作与变化

在过去的20年中，美国艺术博物馆的资金发生了重大变化。特别是在大萧条之后，联邦和公司的捐赠大幅下降。这些变化影响了博物馆为展览筹集资金的能力。这项研究探讨了资金短缺如何影响美国艺术博物馆，特别是在工作人员执行其任务的能力以及他们用来补偿这些变化的行动策略方面。我从有关资源稀缺性的文献中汲取经验，探索资金短缺如何促使博物馆工作人员使用“战略合作”作为分散有限财政资源的手段。此外，通过与策展人和开发人员的访谈，我确定了他们可以使用的三种合作策略：协调专业间的活动，汇集专业知识，并找到创新的财务解决方案。通过将团体间合作确定为一种多元化战略，这些发现增加了资源短缺的工作。更重要的是，我通过具体确定个人可以用来应对资源短缺的多种形式的战略合作来增加这一文献。最后，尽管关于文学的艺术关注的是博物馆在胁迫时期的行业间冲突倾向，但我的工作表明，尽管如此，合作行动仍是文化组织中目前可行的战略。我通过专门确定个人可以用来对抗资源稀缺的多种形式的战略合作形式来补充这些文献。最后，尽管关于文学的艺术关注的是博物馆在胁迫时期的行业间冲突倾向，但我的工作表明，尽管如此，合作行动仍是文化组织中目前可行的战略。我通过专门确定个人可以用来对抗资源稀缺的多种形式的战略合作形式来补充这些文献。最后，尽管关于文学的艺术关注的是博物馆在胁迫时期的行业间冲突倾向，但我的工作表明，尽管如此，合作行动仍是文化组织中目前可行的战略。