As the year winds down, the financial impacts of our Great Recession will be visible at one of Billings' top cultural institutions: the Yellowstone Art Museum.

By Christmas Eve, the museum's gift shop will be gone. Then in January, the space will become an unstaffed consignment art gallery, allowing the YAM to cut two positions during these tough economic times.

"By year's end we will have eliminated or not refilled six positions out of 25," said YAM Executive Director Robyn Peterson.

In July, August and September, memberships and corporate sponsorships fell one-third short of the museum's goals, she said. Hope that the summertime would reverse the trend faded when fewer people came to the museum even as Yellowstone National Park drew a record number of tourists.

"In terms of people in the door, it was down 10 to 15 percent, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you operate on the margin of about zero, it hurts," she said.

The Museum Store lost money in 10 of its 11 years and something had to give, Peterson said. Some of the glass cases will be moved to the lobby by the admissions desk, where some gift items will continue to be sold.

For six years, Kim Morgan managed the store and said she was sad to hear three weeks ago that it was closing.

"It's just a wonderful place," Morgan said. "As far as retail goes, I've had a great deal. The people are always pleasant."

Funding for nonprofits across the country has fallen by up to 50 percent during this economic retrenchment, according to a February study of the arts in the Pacific Northwest.

It is now clear that this financial crisis is more severe than anything we have experienced in 50 years and is likely to be protracted, concluded the Helicon Collaborative survey.

At least 25 percent of 29 cultural organizations in the Seattle area are aggressively planning their survival, 60 percent are actively addressing the near-term challenges, and 15 percent are in denial, the study suggested.

If financial support doesn't pick up soon, the YAM may have to take even more serious measures.

After 9/11, Peterson said, the museum went through a "terrific bad spell" and had to ask for debt forgiveness and appeal for the community support. Supporters rallied and put the museum back on track.

But the museum has a bit of a public-relations challenge in discussing its financial needs.

Thanks to a $400,000 grant by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the YAM is completing a storage facility along 26th Street North to display its 7,300-piece permanent collection, plus an interactive area and an artist studio. This money can be spent only on the addition, and no employees will be added to staff the space, Peterson said, but the expansion generates questions when she discusses museum's financial needs.

Every dollar spent on an art show or theater performance generates another $7 to $12 for Billings businesses like hotels, restaurants and retail stores, she said.

Art also is a tourist magnet.

Shopping is the top attraction for visitors coming to Billings, and art and music are second, according to a 2006 study conducted by The Billings Area Chamber of Commerce.

"They might not be shopping without the cultural draw," Peterson said.

All of YAM's funding sources have dropped during this recession, she said, so two shows of new art out of a dozen planned for 2010 have been canceled. Art from the existing collection will be displayed instead.

All but 11 percent of the museum's $1.2 million annual budget comes from memberships, gifts, grants and sponsorships and from special events like the spring Yellowstone Art Auction, where sales were off 25 percent. Admissions account for only 2 percent of the revenue, which is always a big surprise to people, she said.

Some giant endowment isn't expected to come to the rescue, but a lot of small gifts can, Peterson said.

"Everybody has the capacity to drop by and pay $5 admission and see what you have in your hometown," she said.

Another big financial hit to the YAM was the loss of the long-term emotional and financial support from Miriam Sample and Dr. L. Bruce Anderson, who both died last year. Over the years, Sample purchased more than 400 pieces of Montana art and donated them to area museums.

For nearly three years, Betty Whiting ran a contemporary art museum in Billings called The Flatiron Gallery, but ran out of money and had to close in December. She welcomed the news that the YAM was opening a consignment gallery.

"We've got wonderful artists in our state, and people in Billings have very little opportunity to see them," Whiting said.

Finding hidden pennies

In an effort to be more accessible, starting today the museum will open an hour later and remain open another hour from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The museum is now open Thursday evenings until 8 p.m. and will add Friday to its schedule.

The in-house café, Marcy Tatarka's Art Beyond the Palette, serves lunch and Thursday dinners, and will add Friday evenings as well.

Holiday party rentals were almost nonexistent last year, but a few are booked for this year. And wedding parties can rent the YAM.

"People who have lived in this community for a long time probably don't realize how excellent it is to have an art institution of this size and quality in a city this size," she said. "And don't really realize that it needs to be appreciated."

Contact Jan Falstad at jfalstad@billingsgazette.com or 657-1306.