Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Watson, Executive Director / CEO ($12,513) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 41 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 10th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: Karen Watson — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 SC cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartoon Art Museum Of California | CA | $365,349 | Executive Director | $70,284 | $59,714 | 2024 |
| Dixie Center For The Arts Inc | LA | $350,701 | Executive Director | $78,706 | $85,271 | 2024 |
| Waterworks Visual Arts Center Inc | NC | $348,857 | Executive Di | $76,743 | $78,020 | 2024 |
| Offcenter Community Arts Project | NM | $348,177 | Executive Director | $62,423 | $68,010 | 2023 |
| Mcpherson Museum & Arts Foundation | KS | $383,070 | Exe Director | $55,005 | $60,195 | 2023 |
| New Jersey State Museum Foundation | NJ | $383,083 | Interim Ed | $28,750 | $25,256 | 2024 |
| 516 Arts | NM | $383,975 | President/ed | $91,220 | $96,534 | 2024 |
| Michelson Museum Of Art | TX | $388,017 | Executive Dir. | $53,900 | $53,049 | 2024 |
| Mitte Cultural District | TX | $332,344 | Executive Dir. | $75,000 | $75,996 | 2023 |
| Bozeman Art Museum | MT | $332,259 | Executive Director | $49,000 | $51,969 | 2024 |
| Wharton Esherick Museum | PA | $330,251 | Executive Director | $111,483 | $109,386 | 2024 |
| Santa Paula Art Museum | CA | $394,622 | Executive Di | $99,274 | $84,344 | 2024 |
| North Carolina Pottery Museum Inc | NC | $394,862 | Executive Director | $68,195 | $67,543 | 2025 |
| Concrete Couch | CO | $396,632 | Executive Director | $60,000 | $58,279 | 2023 |
| Doral Contemporary Art Museum Inc | FL | $398,641 | President | $2,000 | $1,849 | 2024 |
| International Art Museum Of America | CA | $311,017 | Director | $12,408 | $10,853 | 2023 |
| Lagrange Art Museum Inc | GA | $422,931 | Executive Di | $65,473 | $64,773 | 2024 |
| Cue Art Foundation | NY | $297,378 | Executive Direc | $121,244 | $107,797 | 2024 |
| Trustees Of The Tw Wood Gallery | VT | $294,965 | Executive Director | $65,769 | $65,133 | 2024 |
| Journeys In Education Inc | NH | $293,577 | Executive Director | $34,692 | $31,518 | 2024 |
| Liberty Arts Inc | NC | $281,926 | Executive Di | $5,250 | $5,337 | 2024 |
| Cedarburg Art Museum & Society Inc | WI | $280,277 | Executive Director | $68,199 | $70,078 | 2024 |
| Robert & Ellen Haan Museum Of | IN | $276,084 | Administrati | $28,138 | $30,059 | 2023 |
| Torrance Cultural Arts Center | CA | $457,647 | Executive Director | $101,435 | $86,180 | 2024 |
| Arnot Art Museum | NY | $460,339 | Trustee | $4 | $3 | 2023 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to SC cost of living and 2025 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 SC 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 10th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 10th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 10th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 10th |
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.
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
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.