The recession has reined in ambitious expansion projects at major arts institutions across the country and, according to one prominent arts researcher, exposed “poor management and poor planning” by organizations that were caught up in the boom, according to The New York Times.

Projects at museums and performance spaces in Cincinnati, New York, St. Louis, and elsewhere — many attached to big-name architects and accompanied by high-profile fund-raising campaigns — have been postponed, scaled back, or abandoned as the downturn sapped arts groups’ finances.

In other arts news, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra reported a $3.8-million budget gap for fiscal 2009 after running relatively modest deficits in 2007 and 2008, says the Detroit Free Press.

Also, leaders of major British theaters visited Washington last week to scout for the star-powered touring shows, a prospect that could raise the city’s standing as a player in U.S. theater, writes The Washington Post.

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