Cost Cutting in Mind, Wayne Clough Asks Smithsonian Staffers to Consider Early Retirement, Buyouts

Elsewhere in museum news, Wayne Clough, who is still the head of the Smithsonian, despite repeated calls for his removal following the National Portrait Gallery/David Wojnarowicz debacle last winter, has released a memo to his staff, asking them to think about retiring early or going the route of a planned buyout. The Washington Post received a copy of the memo and has printed sections of it. Therein, Clough makes a request for voluntary terminations to help the organization “move forward in implementing the Strategic Plan” and “help us address critical Federal budgetary issues.”