Description
Organization
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is the only art museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the only art museum along South Carolina’s north coast. Established in 1987 and opened to the public in June 1997, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum has become a vital visual arts institution serving Myrtle Beach and the broader tri-county region of Horry, Georgetown, and Brunswick Counties. Located in an iconic historic building with views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum is a well-loved community landmark and a distinctive cultural destination. The museum includes 11 intimate galleries with approximately 2,700 square feet of exhibition space across two floors, including about 1,500 square feet on the first floor and 1,200 square feet on the second floor. The Myrtle Beach Art Museum is dedicated to engaging residents and visitors through distinctive exhibitions, interactive educational programs, and creative experiences for people of all ages. Looking ahead, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum has significant potential for growth, including the possibility of a future new building and relocation, potentially into Myrtle Beach’s Arts and Innovation District.
Since opening, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum has presented more than 300 visual arts exhibitions, including painting, sculpture, photography, fiber art, ceramics, interactive exhibitions, and traveling exhibitions from lenders across the country. Its exhibitions provide opportunities for visitors to engage with noted and emerging artists, musicians, authors, historians, dancers, and photographers, while encouraging artistic creativity, preserving diverse cultural heritage, and making the visual arts more accessible to the community.
The Myrtle Beach Art Museum's exhibition program reflects a wide range of artistic practices, cultural perspectives, and community partnerships. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include Ashlyn Pope: A History of Moving Forward II, exploring the artist’s ancestral Gullah history through ceramics and textiles; Jo-Ann Morgan: The Mourning After, featuring memorial works created for victims of unjust violence; and Expanding Horizons: A Grand (Strand) Collection, a major presentation of the Museum’s expanding permanent collection. A current exhibit at the Museum is A Lasting Impression, a collection of Impressionist paintings from Degas, Renoir, and many others. The Myrtle Beach Art Museum also presents annual juried exhibitions that highlight regional and student talent, including the Annual High School Exhibition for students in Horry and Georgetown Counties and the Annual Waccamaw Arts & Crafts Guild Exhibition. Additional exhibitions feature Impressionist works from private collections, contemporary color-block paintings and trompe l’oeil ceramics, and place-based work exploring identity and family history in Horry County. Education and community engagement are central to Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s mission. The organization views the tri-county area as its community and embraces the role of the art museum as a place of adventure, discovery, and learning through the visual arts. Its education and engagement programs are a strong foundation for connecting audiences more deeply with the museum’s art, exhibitions, artists, and collections.
The Myrtle Beach Art Museum also offers studio programs, artist-led workshops, school tours, outreach activities, and community events that extend access to the visual arts while strengthening connections between audiences and the museum’s exhibitions. These programs will remain an important part of the museum’s work while supporting a broader institutional focus on art, artists, exhibitions, collections, and community impact. The Myrtle Beach Art Museum's facilities and programs have continued to evolve in response to community needs. In 2018, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum added the Lineta Pritchard Pottery Studio, which offers classes and open studio time for ceramicists of varying skill and experience levels. The studio has become an important resource for hands-on arts learning and creative practice in the Grand Strand area.
The Myrtle Beach Art Museum has a 17-member Board of Trustees led by President Rosemary Long Jenrette. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Trustees and oversees five full-time staff members, five part-time staff members, and 11 volunteers. Myrtle Beach Art Museum has maintained a balanced budget, with average annual revenue of approximately $700,000 to $800,000, providing a solid foundation for future growth, expanded visibility, and continued institutional impact.
Sources: edited from myrtlebeachartmuseum.org; propublica.org
Community
Located at the heart of South Carolina’s Grand Strand coast, Myrtle Beach is a vibrant residential and vacation community known for its oceanfront setting, warm climate, and strong identity as one of the Southeast’s leading coastal destinations. The city is home to more than 35,000 permanent residents and welcomes millions of visitors each year, creating a dynamic community shaped by both year-round civic life and a robust tourism economy. Incorporated as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957, Myrtle Beach serves as a central hub within the Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of coastline made up of 14 coastal communities. Its wide beaches, outdoor recreation, family attractions, restaurants, shopping, golf, live entertainment, and hospitality amenities contribute to both quality of life and the city’s prominence as a major visitor destination.
Beyond its beaches and tourism economy, Myrtle Beach is home to a growing arts, culture, and heritage landscape. The broader area includes historic sites, public art, galleries, live performance, festivals, and cultural attractions that help tell the story of the Grand Strand, including the influence of Gullah Geechee culture on the region’s culinary traditions and cultural identity. The City of Myrtle Beach continues to invest in quality of life, recreation, sports tourism, and economic vitality, with particular attention to revitalization in the Central Business District and the Arts & Innovation District. In 2027, the Arts & Innovation District will be home to a new 300-seat venue housed in three rehabilitated historical buildings. As a partnership between Coastal Carolina University (CCU) and the City of Myrtle Beach, the venue will serve the local community and the more than 18 million visitors coming to Myrtle Beach each year. Coastal Carolina University, with over 12,000 students and highly rated arts programs in music, theatre, and visual arts, is located only 15 miles inland from Myrtle Beach. Together, these assets make Myrtle Beach both a beloved coastal destination and an evolving year-round community for residents, families, businesses, artists, and visitors.
Sources: visitmyrtlebeach.com; cityofmyrtlebeach.com
Position Summary
The Executive Director of the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum (Myrtle Beach Art Museum) will have a significant opportunity to lead one of Myrtle Beach’s most distinctive cultural assets into a new era of artistic excellence, regional visibility, and community impact. This role will represent a major career opportunity for a visionary arts leader seeking to shape the future of a growing art museum, elevate its role in the cultural life of the region, and make a lasting impact on Myrtle Beach’s arts scene. Working closely with the Board of Trustees, staff, artists, donors, civic leaders, and community partners, the Executive Director will provide strategic and hands-on leadership for the Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s artistic direction, exhibitions, collections, community engagement, institutional growth, fundraising, operations, facilities, and public engagement. This leader will strengthen the Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s financial sustainability through grant writing, donor cultivation, fundraising events, and contributed income strategies while fostering a culture of excellence, communication, respect, accountability, and trust among a dedicated staff and volunteer team.
As the Myrtle Beach Art Museum's primary ambassador, the Executive Director will deepen relationships with residents, visitors, schools, libraries, veterans’ programs, artists, and community organizations, ensuring the Myrtle Beach Art Museum will continue to thrive as a high-quality art museum, a welcoming civic gathering place, and a catalyst for creativity across the region. With strong programs, dedicated stakeholders, and substantial potential for expanded visibility and influence, the Myrtle Beach Art Museum will offer its next Executive Director the opportunity to build on a solid foundation while advancing a bold, inclusive, and art-driven vision for the museum’s future.
Roles and Responsibilities
Fundraising and Financial Oversight
Strengthen Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s financial position through effective fundraising strategies, donor cultivation, grant writing, contributed income growth, and responsible fiscal stewardship.
Develop and monitor annual budgets in partnership with Board leadership and outside accounting support, ensuring clear reporting, accountability, and the efficient use of resources.
Advance short- and long-term fundraising plans that reflect the realities of a tourist-based economy while expanding support from individuals, corporations, foundations, government sources, and special events.
Lead or support fundraising events, funding applications, donor stewardship, and other financial oversight responsibilities that advance Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s goals and long-term needs.
Embrace other fundraising and financial oversight responsibilities as needed.
Strategic Leadership
Lead the development and implementation of Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s strategic vision in partnership with the Board of Trustees, ensuring alignment with Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s mission, values, artistic excellence, and community role.
Advance Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s exhibitions, collections, facilities, education programs, community partnerships, and visitor experience in ways that strengthen its identity as a regional art museum.
Guide institutional growth, financial strategy, and public visibility while supporting high-quality national, international, regional, and local exhibitions.
Provide creativity, vision, collaboration, and sound stewardship to increase visitation, deepen engagement, and position Myrtle Beach Art Museum for long-term relevance and impact.
Embrace other strategic leadership responsibilities as needed.
Personnel and Facilities Management
Provide effective leadership for staff and volunteers, fostering a workplace culture grounded in excellence, communication, collaboration, accountability, and community service.
Oversee staffing, policies, procedures, compliance, internal communication, and organizational systems that support the effective operation of Myrtle Beach Art Museum.
Manage Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s historic building, facilities, and physical plant needs while planning responsibly for future space and operational requirements.
Support staff capacity, delegation, recognition, and professional development while ensuring appropriate coordination among staff, Board leadership, partners, and civic stakeholders.
Embrace other personnel and facilities management responsibilities as needed.
Community and Stakeholder Engagement
Serve as the Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s primary ambassador to donors, members, artists, visitors, civic leaders, cultural partners, and the broader Myrtle Beach community.
Strengthen Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s role as a regional cultural resource by building relationships with local residents, tourists, artists, schools, libraries, veterans’ programs, community organizations, and civic stakeholders.
Promote accessibility, public awareness, and community connection while defining Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s evolving role in the arts and culture of the region.
Support education, outreach, artist engagement, and community partnerships in ways that are connected to Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s exhibitions, collections, artistic vision, and public impact.
Embrace other community and stakeholder engagement responsibilities as needed.
Board Relations and Governance
Partner closely with the Board of Trustees to support strong governance, accountability, communication, and implementation of institutional priorities.
Engage Board members in fundraising, donor cultivation, events, advocacy, and shared responsibility for Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s future.
Provide clear and respectful leadership that supports effective Board-staff relationships, role clarity, realistic planning, and thoughtful decision-making.
Support the continued development of governance practices, policies, and structures that meet Myrtle Beach Art Museum’s current needs and future aspirations.
Embrace other Board relations and governance responsibilities as needed.
Traits and Characteristics
The Executive Director will be a receptive, intentional, and resourceful leader who brings creativity, intuition, and practical focus to their work. Highly engaged and adaptable, they will communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders while navigating frequent change and multiple priorities with ease. Energized by purpose and results, the Executive Director will act with confidence, collaboration, and a competitive spirit, seeking opportunities that advance the organization’s goals while maximizing the impact of time, talent, energy, and resources.
Other key competencies include:
Leadership and Goal Orientation – The capacity to organize and motivate other people with a sense of purpose and direction while setting, pursuing, and attaining goals.
Personal Accountability – The willingness to self-evaluate, learn from mistakes, take responsibility for personal actions and decisions, accept setbacks, look for ways to progress, and understand how obstacles impact results.
Planning and Organizing – The aptitude to utilize logical, systematic, and orderly procedures to meet objectives, prioritizing tasks for optimum productivity and anticipating probable effects, outcomes, and risks.
Time and Priority Management – The adeptness to develop goals and objectives, identify and resolve issues, determine realistic timelines, and establish top priorities that result in significant and positive outcomes.
Decision Making – The ingenuity to analyze all aspects of a situation; establish and achieve specific, measurable, attainable, reviewable, and time-sensitive goals; and make consistently sound, timely, and well-communicated decisions.
Problem Solving – The ability to define, analyze, and diagnose key components of a problem to formulate a solution.
Qualifications
A minimum of five years of leadership experience in an arts and culture organization is required. A bachelor’s degree in art, art history, history, museum studies, business, or finance is ideal, and a master’s degree is preferred. Training and/or experience in management, finance, investment, and fundraising practices is required. Familiarity with the museum profession, best practices, and standards of the field, including Museum Accreditation standards, is highly desirable, alongside knowledge of legal issues surrounding museum practice; methods, procedures, and regulations related to Federal and State grants; methods and procedures related to corporate and nonprofit foundation grants; historic preservation; and relevant tax law and compliance issues. A candidate who does not meet all the qualifications but possesses transferable or equivalent skills, experience, or education is encouraged to inquire or apply and to highlight those areas in their cover letter.
Compensation and Benefits
The Myrtle Beach Art Museum provides a competitive and equitable compensation package with an estimated salary range of $95,000 to $125,000. Benefits include salary support that incorporates 100% of the cost of health insurance benefits, 10 paid days off with additional days accrued based on tenure, and eight paid holidays.
Applications and Inquiries
To submit a cover letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please visit https://artsconsulting.com/opensearches/the-franklin-g-burroughs-simeon-b-chapin-art-museum-seeks-executive-director/
Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum (the Myrtle Beach Art Museum) is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates. The Myrtle Beach Art Museum is committed to a workplace that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect, and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status.
