LOS ANGELES (AP) – The financially troubled Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has accepted a bailout from billionaire Eli Broad worth as much as $30 million.

In a deal to be announced Tuesday, Broad has promised to match donations to the museum’s endowment up to $15 million, and to give $15 million over five years toward exhibitions, Broad and museum board members said.

The museum – better known as MOCA – has a respected collection of works produced since 1940, but has recently suffered from severe money shortages.

Also, MOCA director Jeremy Strick has resigned and will be replaced by former UCLA chancellor Charles E. Young, who will become the museum’s first chief executive.

MOCA took Broad’s deal over a merger proposed by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

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AP-WS-12-23-08 0423EST