Cameron Art Museum releases budget; says money from city is vital

The Cameron Art Museum has made headlines recently, for refusing to disclose budget information while continuing to ask for tax payer money. After we found out the museum signed a contract agreeing to abide by public record laws when they began accepting city money four years ago, the board decided to have a news conference today to answer questions from the media.

The CAM is a state of the art facility, paid for largely by the Cameron family. While the building is paid for, it costs more than a million dollars a year to run. No feasibility study was done before it was built, and for more than a year now, it’s operated in the red.

“Perhaps the vision was larger you know than the reality,” CAM Board Member Rick Myracle told the media today. ” But the point is, this is a state of the art, $12 million paid for museum facility and the challenge to the board, and to the community, is we have to maintain and operate”

Since the museum is a private organization, many of our viewers were surprised to hear its gotten a $100,000 a year from the City of Wilmington the last four years. So far, all the money has gone into the endowment fund, but now, the board wants another $100,000 to cover operating expenses.

The CAM has a $1.5 million budget. It spends more than $350,000 a year on utilities – and hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs and exhibits. Payroll makes up about $770,000 – for 10 part time and contract employees and 10 full timers.

“If we cut staff any further,” Myracle says, “We have to reduce programs. We have to reduce our educational programs or our exhibition programs or our public programs. That’s the last thing we want to do, but if we have to, we will do that.”

Museum Director Deborah Velders makes $120,000 a year, plus benefits. We asked if that was a little high, considering the museum is a non profit, and its attendance was down significantly last year. The museum board maintains her salary is in line with what other museum directors make across the state, and that she has 30 years experience at some very impressive institutions, including the Smithsonian in Washington DC. After she came to the museum in 2005, revenue and attendance rose dramatically – and then, the recession hit.

“She volunteered to take a pay cut,” said Myracle, “And based upon the fact that she’s working 65 – 70 hours a week and doing about four different jobs, we as a board said at this time, we will not ask her to do that.”