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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Wharton Esherick Museum

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 231877555
PA · NTEE A510
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Julie Siglin, Executive Director / CEO ($111,483) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 39 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Julie Siglin — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

39 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 39 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4 total compensation of comparable organizations → $109,863 $111,483
$9,93710th
$36,08325th
$60,859Median
$71,18575th
$87,09190th
$111,483This org · 100th
p10$9,937
p25$36,083
p50$60,859
p75$71,185
p90$87,091
$111,483

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to PA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Bozeman Art Museum MT$332,259 Executive Director $49,000 $52,966 2024
Mitte Cultural District TX$332,344 Executive Dir. $75,000 $77,453 2023
Offcenter Community Arts Project NM$348,177 Executive Director $62,423 $69,315 2023
Waterworks Visual Arts Center Inc NC$348,857 Executive Di $76,743 $79,516 2024
International Art Museum Of America CA$311,017 Director $12,408 $11,061 2023
Dixie Center For The Arts Inc LA$350,701 Executive Director $78,706 $86,906 2024
Sumter Gallery Of Art SC$361,959 Executive Di $12,513 $12,752 2025
Cue Art Foundation NY$297,378 Executive Direc $121,244 $109,863 2024
Cartoon Art Museum Of California CA$365,349 Executive Director $70,284 $60,859 2024
Trustees Of The Tw Wood Gallery VT$294,965 Executive Director $65,769 $66,382 2024
Journeys In Education Inc NH$293,577 Executive Director $34,692 $32,122 2024
Liberty Arts Inc NC$281,926 Executive Di $5,250 $5,440 2024
Cedarburg Art Museum & Society Inc WI$280,277 Executive Director $68,199 $71,422 2024
Mcpherson Museum & Arts Foundation KS$383,070 Exe Director $55,005 $61,349 2023
New Jersey State Museum Foundation NJ$383,083 Interim Ed $28,750 $25,740 2024
516 Arts NM$383,975 President/ed $91,220 $98,384 2024
Robert & Ellen Haan Museum Of IN$276,084 Administrati $28,138 $30,634 2023
Michelson Museum Of Art TX$388,017 Executive Dir. $53,900 $54,066 2024
Santa Paula Art Museum CA$394,622 Executive Di $99,274 $85,961 2024
North Carolina Pottery Museum Inc NC$394,862 Executive Director $68,195 $68,837 2025
Concrete Couch CO$396,632 Executive Director $60,000 $59,396 2023
Grants Pass Museum Of Art OR$263,233 Executive Director $43,000 $40,043 2024
Doral Contemporary Art Museum Inc FL$398,641 President $2,000 $1,884 2024
Caroline County Council Of Arts Inc MD$261,426 Former Executive Director $47,975 $44,977 2024
Arlington Artists Alliance VA$253,157 Exec Dir $61,352 $59,402 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to PA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)97th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted97th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted100th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Julie Siglin) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 39 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A51), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $111,483 is reasonable (approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.