AEA was solicited in 2005 by the new director of one of Central Europe’s leading art collections to review its first Institutional Development Plan. One of two of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s largest art museums, alongside the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Museum of Fine Arts spent the last fifty years in the shadows.  An energetic new director, appointed in December 2004, brought AEA in to undertake a short, sharp review of its planning assumptions.

AEA spent four days in a site visit in Budapest and emerged with a clear sense of the steps necessary to help revitalize the MFA. Among other recommendations were a freshly revised mission statement that has galvanized the staff and engaged the press and public.  New task forces, accelerated decision-making practices, regular benchmarking against peer institutions, firewalls against commercial adventures unrelated to mission, new practices in human resources, and a revised budgeting process were among the concrete recommendations offered, all of which have been accepted and implemented. 

The Director has revamped a host of institutional procedures in light of the Study, and the staff has shown a fresh commitment to the Museum’s potential in the years to come.

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