Nickels: It could have been worse

Imagine if Sasha Suda, 45, former president and CEO of the Philadelphia Art Museum, was somehow able to work through the remaining years of her five-year contract. 

Imagine if – as Suda claimed to the New York Times – that a “corrupt and unethical faction” of the Museum’s board had not “objected to her efforts at modernization.” 

After all, the board hired her. That same “corrupt and unethical faction” of the board gave her a green light when they named her president and CEO of the Museum in June 2022. Suda took office on September 21, 2022, after which she became a celebrity during a hot honeymoon period. WHYY ran a piece entitled “5 things to know about Philly Art Museum’s new director.” Phillymag.com did a piece on Suda’s favorite things in Philly. The Philadelphia Citizen profiled the new Museum CEO, stating, “Suda is reimagining the institution for a new age and new population.” 

In 2023, the Inquirer published a photo of Suda standing in front of a Black History Month art poster (“The Place of Storms”). If a picture is worth a thousand words, in this image Suda looks rather like a Maoist feminist, hair brushed straight back, no makeup, both hands in the pockets of her pantsuit. The picture is provocative in its message of a combative woke sensibility. That message was clear: “Things will no longer be the same at the Museum.”

Yet even a two-bit mostly fake psychic could read that face and posture (and guess the outcome of her tenure). Why couldn’t the Museum board see that when they hired her?  

Suda was hired because many cultural institutions were hiring similar type woman at the time: all across the country different varieties of woke female revolutionary-directors intent on changing things, eliminating the patriarchy, pushing identity politics and kicking out the Old Guard – namely old white men associated with classical civilization – were put in top positions that often ruined those institutions. 

But imagine if Suda’s state court lawsuit, after being fired by the museum abruptly in October 2025, was proven true that she was fired “without a valid basis.” Imagine if the museum had no proof “that Suda misappropriated funds from the Museum and lied to cover up her theft.” 

Imagine if it had been proven that the museum’s executive board actually lied when it claimed that Suda had awarded herself raises on top of her $720,000-a-year salary despite the objections of the board’s compensation committee.

Had this been the case, Suda would have emerged victorious, shining as bright as the statue of Joan of Arc on the Parkway – the hands in the pantsuit version, anyway - while further attempts at “modernization” at the Philadelphia Art Museum would continue to be implemented.

But the reverse occurred. The same executive board that found everything to like about her in June 2022 found cause to fire her on November 4, 2025. Suda wanted a big public trial where she could air her grievances against that “corrupt and unethical faction” of the Museum’s board. She wanted public sympathy and a big severance payout that a public trial would bring. I suppose she imagined a sort of show trial with all her woke female art fans standing by her side. That won’t happen. 

As the Inquirer reported, Suda was ordered to “settle the matter behind closed doors through arbitration, rather than a public trial.”

Suda’s one big revolutionary change – a change she though would solidify her footprint into the next century - was the name change of the Museum. Changing the name of the museum is a brazen way to mark your territory, but Suda rationalized the change by saying it was “also a sort of significant way of starting a new chapter and saying, ‘Look, we’re definitely starting a new chapter here.’” 

A new chapter to say the least; during Suda’s tenure so many of the exhibitions at the Museum seemed to be about identity and political ideas. As one art lover on Reddit described the Suda approach to art happening all over the country:

“Anybody else notice art and music spaces are being over run with woke bullsh-t? Not that long ago people like Bukowski or Hemingway were considered artists, but now the dudes who are even an ounce masculine are being pushed out of spaces by the white girl clone army with the big ridiculous glasses, overalls and Doc Martens who are whining about gentrification all the time while living off their parents trust fund.”

Enter Daniel H. Weiss, former president of Haverford College (2013-2015) and former president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Weiss had been a consultant to the Museum for the last two years. Weiss started at the Met in 2015 when that institution was in trouble. Apparently he fixed the problem. The interesting thing about Weiss is he has credentials in both art and business. It’s ironic that Suda was replaced by a representative of the patriarchy. 

Yes, a father figure had to move in and correct the crayon meanderings of an unruly revolutionary.  

Weiss told the New York Times, “I think it’s one of the great museums and cultural institutions in the country and in the world, and they needed help… I thought, if I can bring value, I would consider it an honor to do so.”

When Weiss announced the Museum was looking into changing the name of the Museum back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I found myself thinking, “Sounds good, but it probably won’t happen.” I was thinking of the cost of the original name change/rebrand, an astronomical, scandalous $1 million. But when Weiss affirmed the Museum was going to adopt the old name, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he said the cost of the change-back may not exceed $50,000.

A decision to keep the rebrand would have immortalized Suda’s folly. 

What will be kept are the visual elements of the logo of the griffin, and the bold fonts called Fairmount Serif spelling out the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Suda’s colloquial signage, “Youse should visit more often,” may also be sent to the chopping block.

Take it away, Mr. Weiss. When you control the cultural institutions, you control the narrative.