Carrboro ArtsCenter looks to reform

After eliminating its executive director and youth performing arts conservatory director positions last Friday, Carrboro’s ArtsCenter is trying to change the way it operates, sources said.

The center, a nonprofit community arts and education space, has struggled to regain its financial footing since the 2008 economic crisis.

The center’s board of directors has launched a campaign to examine and potentially reform its organizational structure.

The elimination of executive director Ed Camp’s position was intended to save money, ArtsCenter board of directors chairwoman Karen Regan said in an e-mail to center supporters on Friday.

“The elimination is not a reflection on Ed’s capability,” Regan said Tuesday. “This has more to do with our attempts to try and make ourselves sustainable.”

Camp, a former manager of Chapel Hill’s University Mall, has been with the ArtsCenter since 2009.

Although Camp’s salary was not available in financial documents filed by the ArtsCenter, his predecessor’s annual salary is listed at $63,000.

Camp is not permitted to publicly comment until the terms of his severance package are negotiated.

He will keep his position until Feb. 25 and help with the transition after his leadership, Regan said in a press release.

In the fiscal year that ended in 2009, the center reported an operating loss of $142,309.

Financial information available for years prior also indicate declining revenue and large operating losses.

The center has seen a sharp decrease in annual paid memberships in recent years, with a high of nearly 1,500 14 years ago reduced to 200 in December 2010.

“We’ve been a victim of the economy as an arts nonprofit,” Regan said.

And while the youth performing arts conservatory will continue without a director, the center at large could see an entirely new operating structure following an internal debate to take place in the next three months.

“We’re going to throw all the ideas out there as a board and figure out what is the best structure,” Regan said. “We need to find one that is more suited to our current needs.”

The executive director position was a combination of the center’s formerly separate marketing and development positions.

“We realized that the positions need to be more discrete and not all lumped together,” Regan said.

Regan stressed that the changes do not mean that the center is closing or considering a close.

Camp launched a membership drive in December, and the center is on track to achieve its goal of 1,000 due-paying members by November 2011, Regan said.

“We hope to come through this stronger than before,” she said. “We’re carrying on.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.