Things really heated up last week, as the Art Museum\u2019s board abruptly terminated CEO and director Sasha Suda \u201cfor cause.\u201d This week, Suda sued the museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Suda\u2019s lawyers put together a 30-page complaint that included serious allegations against the museum. The complaint was shared with the New York Times, which spoke with five anonymous trustees<\/a>, who said the firing was the result of a power struggle in which the board eventually decided Suda was too inexperienced for the job.<\/p>\n The Art Museum has said little publicly in response to the suit. Before the complaint was made public, Mark E. Rubenstein, a member of the board\u2019s executive committee, told the Inquirer<\/a> that the investigation into Suda was \u201cserious,\u201d and that \u201ca board of this stature doesn\u2019t part ways with someone unless it\u2019s a serious matter.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, the museum told The Art Newspaper<\/a>, \u201cThe Art Museum is aware of the recently filed complaint against the museum, and we believe it is without merit. We will not be providing further comment at this time.\u201d Billy Penn reached out and has not received a response.<\/p>\n For now, there\u2019s just the complaint, which Billy Penn read, so you don\u2019t have to. Here we lay out the drama, as described by Suda.<\/p>\n Sasha Suda comes on the scene<\/p>\n Suda took over as director and CEO of the Art Museum three years ago in 2022. She was 41 and came in as a progressive leader \u2014 formerly the youngest-ever CEO of Canada\u2019s National Gallery \u2014 meant to shake things up in Philly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her first day on the job was also the first day that museum staff went on strike<\/a>, seeking a first contract that would raise wages and decrease the cost of health insurance. <\/p>\n According to the complaint, before Suda\u2019s tenure, the museum was \u201cdeeply tarnished by scandals.\u201d Most notoriously, the suit calls out the PMA\u2019s former education director, Josh Helmer, who was accused of drinking on the job, giving alcohol to subordinates and sexually harassing them. Helmer resigned in 2018, and New York Times reporting on the matter<\/a> led Helmer to resign from a position at the Erie Art Museum in 2020<\/a>. The museum later apologized for its handling of the situation<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are also allegations related to PhAM\u2019s operational struggles before Suda.<\/p>\n \u201cIts connection to the community had withered,\u201d it reads. \u201cPhiladelphia\u2019s public schools served over 200,000 students. Yet only 8,000 visited the Museum in 2021, down from 100,000 in 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n What Suda says went down<\/p>\n The complaint says that Suda came in expecting to right the museum\u2019s ship \u2014 fix finances, increase morale, and add diversity and approachability to the institution. What\u2019s more, it says, she was given \u201cfull executive authority\u201d to do so.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the complaint claims, this promise was \u201call lies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Museum was riddled with drama, infighting, and dysfunction at all levels,\u201d the complaint alleges. \u201cMembers of the Board interfered in staffing, programming, exhibition planning and even the smallest details of administration.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/billypenn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-10-06-e-lee-sasha-suda-philadelphia-art-museum-rebranding-sticker-768x512-1.avif\")
Former Philadelphia Art Museum Director and CEO Sasha Suda. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n