A year after walking back on plans to help fund new spaces for The Arts Center of Clemson and Clemson-Area African American Museum, the city is bringing the two non-profits under its organizational umbrella.
Effective July 1, The Arts Center and African American Museum will operate as "autonomous departments" under Clemson Parks and Recreation, according to The Arts Center Executive Director Joan Phillips. The decision has been mulled over for months, according to city councilwoman Crossie Cox.
The move allows the organizations to focus on programming and let the city handle the bulk of operational expenses, Phillips said.
"This is going to take off the stress of fundraising for them," Cox, a longtime advocate for The Arts Center, said.
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The financial contributions of the city will include paying salaries for at least three part- or full-time employees and covering day-to-day expenses, according to council member Robert Halfacre, but no specifics are available yet.
"We have got to go through the budget process and all that in the next coming months," Parks and Recreation Department head Jay Bennett said.
Phillips and museum board member Pat Kemp said both non-profits will continue to fundraise, but it'll ease their financial burdens.
"It completely makes us sustainable for years to come," said Phillips.
New funding, but no plans for a new space
The site is located at the Calhoun Bridge Center on a winding, steep side street and has little parking and signage to direct visitors. And since The Arts Center opened 13 years ago, the building has become cramped.
Paint buckets, art supplies and stacked stools line the hallways of The Arts Center to make way for classes and summer camps, according to public record.
"My office has become a storage space," Phillips said with a laugh.
A shared gallery and event space houses rotating exhibits on slavery, local artists and history.
At the African American Museum, they've run out of room in their 400 sq. foot space and rent a storage unit to keep artifacts and exhibit materials, according to public record.
The museum is run mainly by volunteers, Kemp said.
"We haven't given up and we don’t make a dime," she said.
Two years ago, Clemson city council began plans to earmark over $80,000 to help build the Arts Center a new building and renovate their vacated space for the museum to expand, according to public records.
In April 2019, the newly elected city council asked staff to justify plans that called for the city to help fund the capital projects for the two non-profits.
Over the course of the next five months, residents voiced support for the city to fund the new Arts Center and museum, as well as opposition to Clemson paying for non-profits not operated by the city, according to council meeting minutes.
In September 2019, City council voted on two motions – one that would create a new building for the Arts Center and allow the museum to take over the Annex, and one that would create new, shared space at the current site – but both motions failed.
"Hopefully, now they got what they want and will decide what they want to do," Kemp said of city council, who is comprised of the same members from last year.
Halfacre said the last year of planning has been tough, but moving the non-profits under the city's umbrella is the best option for the programs' sustainability.
And while Phillips and Kemp agree the move is best for their organizations, both are hopeful they'll get new spaces, especially since the building has such a deep connection to the African American community in Clemson.
Both operations are housed in what used to be known as the Morrison Annex, which was the only all-Black elementary school in Clemson during segregation. The Museum board's president and Kemp's husband, Robert Kemp, attended the school as a child.
"We definitely want that space ... (and) it’s still in the books, we just got to figure out what Clemson wants to do with The Arts Center," Kemp said.
In a February email, city administrator Andy Blondeau said the first priority is to formally move the centers under the city's operation and to hire new staff before the city will "evaluate space needs."
Phillips said plans for a new Arts Center won't come for at least one year.
"The new council and the city will want to see how we run, operationally, probably for the next one to two years," Phillips said.
Zoe covers Clemson for The Greenville News and Independent Mail. Reach her at znicholson@gannett.com or Twitter @zoenicholson_
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