All posts tagged: Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Buffalo AKG Art Museum Director Janne Sirén to Depart After 13 Years

Buffalo AKG Art Museum Director Janne Sirén to Depart After 13 Years

Published by Jenni Sidey

Janne Sirén, the director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Upstate New York, will depart his post in October after more than a decade, opening up yet another top role at a US art institution. Sirén oversaw the museum as it expanded dramatically in 2023, adding another building to its campus that doubled the AKG’s square footage. The expansion, which cost $230 million, was well-received, both within the art press and by locals, who flocked to the museum. The AKG reported that, in the year following the reopening, the museum received 340,000 visitors, a record for the institution. Related Articles But Sirén’s leadership has more recently come under scrutiny in the local Buffalo media. His departure was announced by the museum nearly three months after the Buffalo News reported that he had used a museum loan to help finance his $710,000 home. The Erie County Comptroller’s Office alleged that Sirén had failed to pay off the museum’s loan, leading one representative to say she was “not sure why.” The Buffalo News reported that the …

Buffalo AKG Hasn’t Repaid Museum Loan Used to Buy Home, State Report Finds

Buffalo AKG Hasn’t Repaid Museum Loan Used to Buy Home, State Report Finds

Published by José Betancourt

Janne Sirén, director of Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery since 2013, used a museum loan to help finance a $710,000 home—more than half of which remains unpaid, including accrued interest, according to a state review. Buffalo News, citing data from the Erie County Comptroller’s Office, reported that prevailing interest rates at the time of the loan ranged between 4 and 4.5 percent. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery—now known as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum–approved the loan for Sirén at a markedly lower rate of .18 percent. It was only later, during a routine review of financial records and tax filings from county-funded cultural organizations, that the comptroller’s office found Sirén had not repaid any of the principal or interest. Related Articles  “We’re not sure why it wasn’t paid off,” Mary Hosler, deputy comptroller of the Audit Division, told Buffalo News. “Nobody had, really, any answers.” While such loans are not uncommon as a recruitment tool for museum directors, the loan appears to violate New York’s Not-For-Profit Corporation Law Section 716, which prohibits nonprofit organizations from making loans to …