Sasha Suda, the director and chief executive of the Philadelphia Art Museum, was abruptly dismissed from her position on Tuesday, November 4th, after serving in the role for three years. According to Philadelphia Magazine, Suda received notification of her termination "for cause" via email on Tuesday morning, though the specific reasons for her dismissal were not disclosed to her at that time.

A museum spokesperson confirmed Suda's departure in a statement to The Art Newspaper, saying, "As of today, director and chief executive Sasha Suda is no longer with the Philadelphia Art Museum." The spokesperson added that Louis Marchesano, deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, will oversee the museum's daily operations while the board searches for an interim director and chief executive. "As this is an internal matter, we are limited in what we can say," the statement continued. "The board of trustees is focused on fulfilling the museum's mission as we enter our 150th year."

According to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday, one major source of conflict between Suda and the museum's board of trustees was the institution's controversial rebranding effort launched in early October. The comprehensive brand overhaul included changing the museum's name from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Philadelphia Art Museum, introducing a new retro-style logo designed by the firm Gretel that featured the institution's traditional griffin symbol, and adopting a new abbreviated name styling as "PhAM." However, the rebrand quickly drew criticism on social media, with some users mockingly referring to the museum as "PhArt."

Yoram "Jerry" Wind, a museum trustee, expressed frustration with the negative reaction to the rebranding in an interview with the Inquirer. "We are an amazing museum with an amazing collection, amazing curators and an amazing experience, and it's really a shame, the jokes and negative reaction to the rebranding," Wind said. More significantly, he revealed that the board was kept in the dark about the final rebrand until it was publicly announced. "Basically the board never approved it," Wind explained. "We had expected to see it after the board gave feedback and expected to see the final version so we could approve it or at least see what they were planning to do. And it was launched, so we were as surprised as everyone else."

Another trustee, Jennifer Rice, offered a more positive view of the actual rebranding but agreed that the board should have been properly informed about the launch timing. A museum spokesperson told the Inquirer that the rebranding project cost $250,000, plus additional unspecified expenses for paid media campaigns and new wayfinding signage throughout the facility.

Suda's tenure at the Philadelphia Art Museum began in September 2022, when she took over from Timothy Rub, who had served as director for 13 years. Before joining the Philadelphia Art Museum, Suda had spent three years leading the National Gallery of Canada. However, her leadership at the Philadelphia institution was marked by challenges from the very beginning. Just weeks after her arrival in September 2022, she faced a major crisis when more than 100 unionized museum workers went on strike in protest of contract negotiations that had been stalled for nearly two years. The labor dispute lasted for three weeks before being resolved.