On Tuesday night, the board of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) issued a statement detailing years worth of concern about Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed’s involvement with the organization. They said Reed has attempted to exert his “unilateral” control over an entity that predates his tenure as mayor.

The spillover comes while the museum is embroiled in controversy over a shocking billboard created by the group For Freedoms — which bears the museum’s logo. After a meeting of their board Tuesday night, MMFA wrote that such an episode could have been preventable if Reed had understood his legal responsibilities.

“Historically the Museum has been under the administration of a joint board, comprised of the City Board, appointed by the Montgomery City Council, and the private MMFA Association Board,” they wrote in a statement.

“On February 4, the two boards met jointly and concluded that the time has come to acknowledge publicly a conflict between them and the Mayor’s Office over the administration of the Museum that has existed for two years now. In February 2023, City officials placed the Director of the Museum on administrative leave, without consulting the boards. Since then, the Mayor’s Office has effectively exerted control over the operation of Museum without meaningful board consultation. Both boards have expressed their opposition to the unilateral assumption of control by the Mayor’s Office, but in an effort to achieve a harmonious resolution, they have refrained from publicly acknowledging this conflict while discussions have continued.”

The one-page statement was approved and released by the joint MMFA board, which includes the city council appointed board, as well as the association board. Meaning, city officials have also spoken out against Reed.

The Reed appointed Jennifer D. Dobbs, the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Montgomery, as the MMFA’s interim director without consulting the board, which has left the museum and its organization without a permanent leader for multiple years.

In response to the backlash, last week, MMFA clarified that the decision to erect the billboards was made without the approval of museum leadership or its governing boards.

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Incidentally, Mayor Reed released a statement also saying the billboard should be removed. However, the board suggests it was Reed’s haphazard leadership that led to its display.

“The public private partnership between the City and the MMFA Association for administering the Museum has existed for almost a century. Under this system, we have built an outstanding Museum for a city of our size and attracted enormous public support. We provide world class art for free in a beautiful setting for our community and its visitors. This model of governance is also consistent with standards of the American Alliance of Museums, the body by which we are accredited,” MMFA’s board wrote. 

“The billboards and a number of other pressing issues now compel the boards to acknowledge publicly that they have not been permitted to exercise their proper governance responsibilities. The boards believe these issues, and especially the absence of a full-time, permanent Museum Director for two years, illustrate the problems caused by the abandonment of our historical practices of governance.

“The boards remain committed to achieving a harmonious resolution for the continued progress of the Museum. But, given the many pressing issues and the absence of any sign of cooperation by the Mayor’s Office, the boards decided — with sadness and regret-that it was time to acknowledge this conflict over the administration of the museum publicly.”

A request for a response from Mayor Reed was left early Wednesday morning.