Amy Frierson worries that the Houston Museum might not see its 50th birthday.
Ms. Frierson, the director of the Chattanooga decorative arts museum, said the economic downturn has inhibited many museums in the region and across the country, including hers. One annual fundraiser dropped from $75,000 in 2008 to $35,000 this year.
“I was very discouraged for a while, to be honest,” she said. “You hate to see everybody in this terrible position; you hate to see the arts suffering so much.”
Meanwhile, the Museum Center at Five Points in Cleveland, Tenn., has held its own, in part, because it has a large rental facility, an advantage many small museums lack, said Executive Director Lisa Simpson Lutts.
“We have a steady stream of income,” she said. “There are always weddings and events.”
But there have been signs of the recession. Five Points was forced to lay off its curator of education because of budget cuts, though Ms. Lutts said she’s hoping to rehire when the economy turns around.
At the Houston Museum, a full-time position was left unfilled after an employee left, Ms. Frierson said.
Diane Hutsell, executive director of the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tenn., said cuts in school field trip budgets have proved problematic.
“The problem is paying for the gas,” she said.
If the kids can’t go to the museum, the museum has changed its policy so it can come to the kids, she said, and teachers now can request classroom visits.
BUDGET CUTS
The McMinn Museum and Five Points also have borne the brunt of budget cuts from local government.
“As their budget gets tighter, our budget gets tighter,” Mrs. Hutsell said.
The McMinn Museum has stopped renting exhibits, Mrs. Hutsell said, instead placing emphasis on enhancing its permanent exhibits.
Soon after the economic meltdown, Five Points cut its budget about $40,000, Ms. Lutts said.
“That was a pretty extreme cut,” she said. “Our budget is always bare bones.”
As a result, Five Points turned to creative solutions, such as having local inmates take care of weeding maintenance rather than pay a service, she said.
At the Houston, employee vacation days and raises have been canceled, Ms. Frierson said.
“When there are no visitors in the museum, we keep the lights off,” she said. “That might not be saving us as much money as we think, but every little bit helps.”
Both McMinn and the Houston have slashed weekend hours as well.
“It was either cut back on our days or cut back on our programming for the community,” Mrs. Hutsell said.
Ms. Lutts said Five Points has not had to change its services because of the recession.
“The public never saw anything because of the cuts,” she said. “We were able to keep going as is, but behind the scenes we were kind of scrambling.”
Ms. Frierson said many people have written to the Houston Museum, expressing a desire to help. One Chattanooga couple recently pledged to match the museum’s fundraising total this year, she said.
Still, despite months of declining attendance, Ms. Frierson said she’s feeling more positive for the future. The museum saw a 40 percent year-over-year increase in admissions in June, a sign that things may be returning to normal, she said.
“That’s the first really good month we’ve had,” she said. “I’m just hoping and praying that kind of momentum continues for the summer.”
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