Heather Wilson

Heather Wilson, executive director of Cameron Art Museum, has earned Southeastern Museums Conference’s 2024 Museum Leadership Award, according to a news release.

Started in 1994, the award recognizes mid-career museum professionals "who have shown significant advancement within the profession by leadership in museum activities at his or her institution, within the museum profession as a whole and especially in the southeast region," the release stated.

Wilson became executive director of the CAM in June 2023, having served as deputy director since 2019. She started working at the museum in 2006, when she was hired as a development officer. 

"With a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a master of fine arts from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), Heather Wilson has brought a range of expertise and skills to the Cameron Art Museum, including work in the publishing industry as an editor at Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston," the release stated.

At UNCW, she co-founded the nationally known literary journal, Ecotone, and has continued to author numerous publications and articles. In recent years, Wilson led a needs assessment for CAM’s programming, was the project director for the PNC US Colored Troops Park and Stephen Hayes’s sculpture, Boundless, and oversaw the museum’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and accessibility plan.

"Heather Wilson started CAM’s Connections programs for those living with dementia and disability, as well as the Art Enhances Health program for those being treated for cancer at Zimmer Cancer Center.

"Her focus as director has been to make the Cameron Art Museum an inclusive cultural gathering place for the entire community; many residents have praised her work, calling CAM the most inclusive place in the county," according to the release. "She has procured many grants for the Cameron Art Museum, including funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services and PNC Bank."

Wilson also served on the Public Arts Advisory Council for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and is working on a history book about the Cameron Art Museum. 

The 2024 Museum Leadership Award will be presented at the Southeastern Museums Conference Awards Luncheon on Wednesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.