In a leadership change, Fruitlands Museum trustees have appointed chief financial officer Tim Firment to serve in the newly created position of chief executive officer. Maud Ayson, executive director of Fruitlands since 2000, has resigned to seek other opportunities, but has agreed to remain for several weeks to aid in the transition. In addition to overseeing personnel and financial matters, Firment will assume overall direction of the museum, and although no other staff changes have been made yet, Firment said he will build a new team with existing personnel and some new positions.
In separate interviews last week, Firment and Ayson discussed the changes in leadership. Firment cited the trend for nonprofits to adopt a CEO model of leadership and streamline staff, especially in light of dwindling donations in the faltering economy. He addressed some of the more formidable financial challenges Fruitlands has faced, such as the recent installation of a $1.6 million septic system and the alleged embezzlement of funds by former CFO Peggy Kempton. The embezzlement case, noted Firment, is in the hands of the attorney general, and there are ongoing civil suits as well.
A longtime Harvard resident and a certified public accountant with more than 20 years’ experience in business and executive management, Firment served as a trustee and board treasurer before becoming CFO in June last year.
When asked how the embezzlement of funds had affected daily operations, Firment said it had created a sense that they were just limping along on a financial shoestring, forcing staff to do more with less. Ayson later echoed Firment’s comments, saying it made them all the more clever about how to get things done. Firment had nothing but praise for Ayson and her accomplishments in the face of those constraints, citing the involvement of new artists as well as admissions that increased 35 percent last year. Fruitlands is now a cash-positive operation and is seeing additional revenue from two outbuildings that were not efficiently leased in the past, he said. The turnaround is dramatic and bodes well for the future of Fruitlands, he said.
Ayson agreed with Firment that many museums are adopting the CEO model of management: “They’re doing it everywhere,” she said. Ayson also discussed some of her accomplishments during her eight years at the museum, such as having neglected paintings cleaned and repaired, getting the archive collection out of the back room of the museum store, creating an installation with a theme, and installing climate control to protect paintings, an ongoing effort.
Ayson said her biggest goal was to increase the museum’s relevancy to today’s society. She said her biggest accomplishment was bringing the museum’s first contemporary show, “A Circus Comes to Fruitlands,” to celebrate the museum’s 90th anniversary. She instituted an artist-in-residence program, a poetry project, and several community outreach programs that Firment praised as promoting awareness of people’s connection to the land; fostering connections with libraries, schools, and parks and recreation; and creating fun learning opportunities for children.
Asked if she was concerned that her leaving in the midst of the embezzlement scandal would make her appear to be a “fall guy,” Ayson shook her head and said she wasn’t “getting that from people.” In fact, she said, “people have been really great.” When asked if she was really sure about leaving, she answered without hesitation, “I’d just be in the way. Tim needs room to build his new team, and to deal with all this new stuff I started.”
