As the economy limps along, Hawai'i's museums are finding it tougher to meet their financial needs. They've slashed budgets by cutting hours, closing collections and laying off staff.

They've slashed budgets by cutting hours, closing collections and laying off staff.

Museums in Hawai'i have weathered other such storms, including recession in the early 1980s and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But this time it's far worse than before, said George Ellis, director of the Academy of Arts for 21 years before retiring in 2003.

"The current situation is unlike anything that has come in the past 25 years," Ellis said. "There's never been anything of this severity when ... arts were so severely cut."

But as much as museums are suffering, they're still here, said Peter Rosegg, an O'ahu commissioner for the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

And they'll continue working to meet their missions, whether that means merging operations, as is being discussed between the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum, or closing down whole collections, as did the Bishop Museum when it shuttered its maritime museum in April.

The key to keeping the doors open is for museums to ensure they remain vital and useful to the community, Ellis said.

"Our business is perpetuity," said Tim Johns, Bishop Museum president, director and chief executive officer. "We'll always have some role in the community here; that's important to keep in mind when you weather these economic cycles and storms."

NATIONAL CRISIS

Hawai'i's museums aren't alone. Across the country, museums have been making hard choices. Some have closed their doors and put their collections in storage, hoping to emerge stronger when the economy bounces back. Others slashed their budgets to the bone because grants and government funding have dried up and their endowments — funds invested to create an income — have been hit hard by the economic downturn.

Such steps are necessary because it's unethical for museums to sell off their collections to meet operating expenses, said Dewey Blanton, American Association of Museums public information officer.

"Museums are there to protect the collection," he said. "The collection isn't there to save the museum."

In May, Bishop Museum closed the Hawai'i Maritime Center and began closing its main facility in Kalihi every Tuesday as a way to cope with the difficult economy. The museum also cut its staff.

Recent discussions between the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum represent their latest effort to find a short-term solution to the economic downturn. No one in the art field felt that either museum would have to close, but a merger would enable them to share costs or create a strong partnership.

While nothing is settled yet between the two museum boards, the idea is not without merit, Rosegg said.

"I think a merger with The Contemporary (Museum) ... and the Honolulu Academy of Arts would be to keep the two open and to have an economy of scale, not to close either down," Rosegg said. "I don't think they want to change the character of either place."

The Contemporary Museum was established by former Honolulu Advertiser owner Thurston Twigg-Smith in the 1960s and was originally housed in The Advertiser building. The Academy of Arts was established 82 years ago.

Allison Wong, interim director of The Contemporary Museum, which today is housed at a historic Hart Wood-designed home in Makiki Heights, wouldn't comment on the proposed merger. In an e-mail statement, Wong said the museum is looking ahead, and trying to be fiscally responsible.

LOOKING AHEAD

"We are concentrating on the museum's programs and operations for 2010 and further," Wong said. "During this economic downturn, like all museums and nonprofits locally and nationally, we have battened down the hatches and are riding out the storm."

A year ago, the museum laid off 11 full-time and 14 part-time employees — half its staff. Eighteen full-time and five part-time employees remain on staff.

"We continue to work within the community to build awareness for contemporary art and find these times allow us to look in our own backyard for these unique opportunities," Wong said.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts, which has more than 50,000 works of art, has seen its endowment sink 34 percent in value in 2008. To balance its operating budget, the Academy of Arts initiated a series of cost-cutting measures that included charging school groups an admission fee, closing its lending collection indefinitely, cutting library staff hours, canceling some traveling exhibits and curtailing staff travel. Even the hours and programming were cut at the Doris Duke Theatre.

Around the country the story is the same, Blanton said.

"Nonprofits are hurting because those that have endowments have seen them shrink, and funding from local governments has been slashed and philanthropic gifts have declined as well," he said. "The irony here is that museum attendance has never been higher."

In Hawai'i too, museums have seen burgeoning crowds at free family events at the Bishop Museum and the Academy of Arts.

"We've made changes to the operating model," the Bishop Museum's Johns said. "It's one of those situations where you keep your eye on the long-term role of the institution in the community.

"The Bishop Museum is a lot of things to a lot of people. At its core it allows people to be reminded of what is unique about Hawai'i."

Marilyn Cristofori, chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Arts Alliance, feels the same way about the keepers of the arts.

"Art museums are the essence of our identity," said Cristofori. "There's nothing that teaches creativity like the arts."