1971-1972, 1971 - 1972

Duncan F. Cameron (1930- )

Duncan F. Cameron was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1930. A journalist and museologist, he worked as a reporter for the Toronto Telegram and as a television writer and performer during the 1950s and early 1960s before turning his attention to the museum world. Prior to 1968, he worked in a variety of administrative and information positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre, and Canadian Facts Limited. Cameron's educational experience consisted of in-service training during six years at the Royal Ontario Museum and courses audited at the University of Toronto, also during that time. From 1968 until he came to the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1971, Cameron served as National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, a national lobbying group for arts institutions and advisor to the Canadian federal government. His professional activities focussed primarily on international museum affairs with involvement in UNESCO programs and the International Council on Museums (ICOM), as well as the Canadian Museums Association. He also wrote extensively on museum issues.

After leaving the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Cameron served as Director of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, from 1977 through 1988. A museum consultant throughout his career, Cameron founded the firms Duncan Cameron and Associates and Janus Museum Consultations Limited in the 1960s, and currently (1997) works in Calgary, Alberta, where he is actively involved in the proposed Institute for Modern and Contemporary Art. He also teaches at the University of Montreal.

Cameron's tenure at the Museum was most notable for a complete administrative reorganization of the institution; the "Critical Path Management" method was employed. Executive administration staff increased, with the appointment of Carlin Gasteyer as Vice Director for Administration, Jan Henry James for Public Relations, Ward E. Mintz as Assistant to the Director, Damien de Aragon for Project Control, and James Dunn as Executive Assistant. A formal reporting structure was defined and procedures bulletins issued. The Education Division, Art School, Community Gallery, and Design Laboratory were grouped under the rubric of Interpretation. Also included under Interpretation was a new Audiovisual Center. A separate Personnel Office was established and a Staff Association organized.

Cameron, like previous directors, also looked to the many population groups in Brooklyn for the Museum's primary audience and reached out with programs such as the Community Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum Art School's Prison Program, and a new series of intensive, day-long class visits for students. The Museum joined the newly-established Museums Collaborative to share the staff skills with community organizations and schools through the Cultural Voucher Program. Theater-in-the-Back took advantage of the open space behind the Museum for open air theater and movie programs. The Jennie Simpson Educational Project brought African objects into the Education Division classrooms for children to handle.

Highlights of the exhibition program under Cameron include "Pride and Prejudice, A Women's Exhibition" (1971), "Norman Rockwell: A Sixty-Year Retrospective" (1972), "Viet Nam: A Photographic Essay" (1972), "Navajo Blankets from the Private Collections of Contemporary Artists" (1972), and "Homer and Sargent: Watercolors, Prints and Drawings" (1972), "William Trost Richards" (1973), and "Akhenaten and Nefertiti" (1973). "African Art of the Dogon: The Lester Wunderman Collection" (1973), was organized by the Museum and opened to great excitement in the black community. Interpretive efforts for this show, and others during Cameron's tenure, included lectures, workshops, seminars, gallery talks, and audiovisual presentations.

The Museum building and institutional finances were also a focus for Cameron's administration. Staff created a long range plan to upgrade the building and install climate control, continuing the ongoing renovation program into Stage IV. Financial operations were revised and efforts made to put the Museum on a more sound fiscal footing. The importance of government grant funding continued to grow, with the role of the National Endowments becoming more evident.

Cameron was active in national and international museum affairs, including the International Council on Museums (ICOM), the American Federation of Arts (AFA), and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD); he also lectured and wrote extensively. This interest in professional affairs is also reflected in the establishment of an "international participation" fund for Museum staff to travel and attend meetings. The final months of Cameron's administration were marked by strife that received intense coverage in the news media. Differences between Cameron and J. Stewart Johnson, Curator of Decorative Arts, led to Johnson's dismissal. A series of protests, resignations, dismissals, and reinstatements, and Board hearings ensued. The well-publicized conflict eventually ended with the Board of Trustees accepting Cameron's resignation, as well as the ultimate responsibility for the division in the Museum's staff. Cameron served until the end of December 1973, and was succeeded by Michael Kan, Curator of Primitive Art and Vice Director for Curatorial Affairs. Kan served as Acting Director until September 1974, when Michael Botwinick was appointed director.