Walker Art Center balanced its books for the 39th consecutive year despite a pandemic shutdown.
Its annual report shows a surplus of $11,295 on an operating budget of $18.3 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, down $2.7 million from fiscal 2019. Helping the Walker stay in the black was $1.47 million in federal Payroll Protection Program funding, which enabled it to pay employees through the end of June.
"We dropped about $5 million to $6 million from revenue that we were anticipating," said executive director Mary Ceruti. "It was offset to a large degree by the fact that we were closed and then we weren't doing live, on-site programming, so we weren't spending that much either."
The Walker shut its doors on March 13 and did not reopen until early July. Consequently, there was a big drop in earned income from its programs, to $1.2 million from $2.6 million the previous year. Similarly, income from museum admissions, gift shops, food service and rentals dropped to $1.5 million from $2.2 million.
The Walker laid off 33 part-timers right after the end of the fiscal year. Ceruti said the layoffs were not aimed at balancing the budget, but rather a response to cuts in programming and operating hours, and limits on museum capacity.
The Minneapolis nonprofit did not dip as heavily into its endowment last year, drawing only $5.4 million, 18% less than the previous year. The Walker also earned more on its Avant Garden fundraising gala, bringing in a record $1.3 million.
The pandemic really halted a year when "a lot of things were going really, really well," said Ceruti.
Looking ahead
The coming fiscal year will be a challenge for the Walker along with other arts organizations. Ceruti said the budget is down more than 22%. The Walker has already called off next summer's edition of its Rock the Garden music festival.
