The International African American Museum in Charleston just announced that every worker at the museum — from directors to security guards — will have to take 20 unpaid days off at different times between July and December 2026. The museum announced this decision in early June because it doesn't have enough money in its budget.

Instead of closing the whole museum at once or cutting some workers permanently, the museum is spreading out the unpaid time. Some staff will have time off in July, others in August, and so on through December. This way, the museum can stay open while saving money on salaries across six months.

The museum opened in June 2023 on Gadsden's Wharf in Charleston — the exact waterfront where an estimated 40 percent of enslaved Africans first arrived in the United States. The museum raised millions of dollars to build and open, including $10 million from JPMorgan Chase. Keeping a museum like this running costs a lot: it needs curators, archivists, educators, and other specialists working year-round.

Across the country, museums are struggling financially right now. The federal government has been cutting funding to arts agencies in 2025 and 2026. Many museums got part of their money from the government, so they've had to tighten their budgets. We don't know for certain if the Charleston museum's problem comes from less government funding, fewer visitors than expected, or something else — the museum hasn't said exactly.

When a museum does something like this instead of laying people off, it means employees keep their jobs and health insurance. Layoffs are messy and hurt a museum's reputation. For a museum built to serve and honor Black history — a community that has historically been left out of major museums — keeping staff and community trust matters a lot.

Over the next six months, the museum will learn whether this strategy actually solves its money problem. It could work, or it could be just the first of several tough decisions the museum has to make. The museum hasn't said it's planning layoffs, which suggests it's trying to keep operating rather than shrink down.