Cameron Art Museum receives grant for accessibility plan

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - One local museum is working to make sure all guests have a fair chance at enjoying everything the space has to offer.

Some people may enjoy spending a relaxing day at the beach, while others enjoy spending time at the museum. However, the experience is not always the same for everyone.

The Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington has a new opportunity to make sure everyone has a chance to take in it’s exhibits. The art ranges from small sculptures on shelves, to large murals on the wall.

“That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to serve our community and I think that as Executive Director, this is one of my major goals. I want to make sure that the Cameron Art Museum is accessible to everyone,” said Heather Wilson, the executive director at Cameron Art Museum.

The museum is set to receive nearly $150,000 dollars over the next two years. The money is coming from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant for Accessibility plan.

“We present about 71 public programs each year, 208 classes, at least 500 tours a year. So we are here for the entire community and this grant will allow us to serve people who are blind and low vision, deaf and hard of hearing. Also to have accommodations for those who are neurodiverse,” said Wilson.

Wilson said the money will allow the museum to better serve people with different sensory disabilities.

The funds will also allow the museum to add more accommodated tours, interactive QR codes, and other resources.

“We are so excited about this grant from the Institute of the Museum and Library Services for our Accessibility Plan. At Cameron Art Museum, it’s going to allow us to better work to fulfill our mission to be a cultural gathering place for everyone in southeastern North Carolina,” said Wilson.

It was just a matter of having the extra money to allow for more expansion. The museum already had programs in place to help people with disabilities. However, the grant will allow for more expansion and programs that will benefit guests.

“This will allow us to develop new programming to enhance programs that we already have. To look into different ways of accommodating accessibility issues in ways that we haven’t been able to before,” said Georgia Mastroieni, the director of outreach and accessibility.

She said better accommodation starts with a plan. The museum will use its advisory committee to learn the best ways to accommodate for those with disabilities.

“I really hope that people will feel welcome and that people will know that we’re really trying to provide as many different opportunities as possible. And with that, we really rely on people’s feedback. You know, we’d like to hear what things that we’re doing are working and we also want to know if there’s ways that we can improve so it’s really kind of a community collaboration,” said Mastroieni.

Cameron Art Museum has a community day coming up on September 24th. The community can enjoy the museum for free from 10-5.

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