The boards of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum are discussing whether to merge their operations, but no agreement has been reached yet, officials said yesterday.

"It's just too early," said Lynne Johnson, a member of the Academy of Arts board of trustees. "I can say that there's some talks going on and that I think they're good talks.

"Whatever would come out of them would be something that would be a win-win. That's the whole idea. The respective constituents of both museums would think that this would be a good thing for them and a good thing for Hawai'i."

The museums began consolidation talks after both were forced to reduce their staffs because of the recession.

Talks between the two boards began this summer, said Robert Saarnio, deputy director of the Academy of Arts. The staff at the Academy of Arts was briefed on the discussions on Aug. 11, he said.

"The boards have begun a conversation," Saarnio said. "There's no certainty that this will happen. But both collections have a strong permanent support in the community."

The downturn in the economy has hit museums across the country hard, causing deep reductions in endowments and donations along with museum entry fees.

A year ago The Contemporary Museum, which is in a historic Hart Wood-designed home on Makiki Heights, laid off half its workforce — 11 full-time and 14 part-time employees.

Over the past year, the Academy of Arts has lost 19 positions to layoffs, attrition or early retirement.

The Academy of Arts, a part of the community for 82 years, now employs 120 people. The museum has more than 50,000 pieces of art and is touted as home to one of the country's finest collections of Asian art.

The Contemporary Museum interim director Allison Wong did not return calls from The Advertiser yesterday. Wong was named interim director after Georgianna Lagoria resigned to move to Los Angeles with her husband, David de la Torre, who accepted a position as program director and chief curator at La Plaza de Culturas y Artes.

Under Lagoria's leadership, the museum, which began as a small gallery opened by publisher Thurston Twigg-Smith in The Honolulu Advertiser building, established an endowment fund, opened a branch at First Hawaiian Center, developed exhibition and education programs and expanded its permanent collections.