North Miami Museum Donors Join Feud Over Proposed Merger

Donors to the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, Fla., have joined the legal fight between the city and museum trustees over a proposed merger with another institution, the Miami Herald reports.

A group of collectors who have given works or money to the small but highly regarded museum, known as MoCA, filed a motion Tuesday in a board lawsuit against the city. The donors say they intended their gifts to benefit the nonprofit museum, not North Miami, and that they could lose tax benefits if control of MoCA’s collection is determined to reside with the town.

Among the seven donors who signed the motion are the museum board’s two co-chairs.

The board filed a breach-of-contract suit in April, claiming North Miami has failed to provide adequate upkeep or support needed expansion of the city-owned museum building. City officials are trying to block trustees’ plan to shift MoCA’s collection to the Bass Museum of Art in neighboring Miami Beach. Each side has hired a museum director. The dispute is headed for court-ordered mediation later this month.