STATE OF THE ARTS:
THE DOWNTURN
Fall 2002

The Big Orange Sad economic stories from arts groups all over America are common these days. But in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange County, the story is mixed. "Success stories are almost as common as negative reports. The mixture of good and bad news here is further evidence that Orange County is a quirky place, not to be graphed on a simple upward or downward chart." Orange County Register 12/08/02

DODGING THE BUCKEYE BUDGET AX: In Ohio, where a massive state budget deficit and an arts-unfriendly Republican leadership threaten to leave arts funding in the lurch, the Ohio Arts Council is looking for creative ways to maintain their cash flow. The OAC budget has been slashed 21% in the last year alone, and further cuts loom, but council leadership insists that they will be all right if they can get at least a philosophical commitment from legislators. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/06/02

ATLANTA ARTS CUTS: Fulton County, which is Atlanta's biggest arts funder, has proposed a $1 million cut in the arts budget next year. "The arts council's annual budget is $5.7 million; $3.4 million of that is granted to about 100 arts groups through the county's contracts for services program. The rest of the money goes to operate the county's school programs and five neighborhood arts centers." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11/30/02

NEW YORK'S GROWING ARTS DEVELOPMENT: A study of the arts in New York says activity is expanding rapidly, and not just in traditional arts districts. "With an astonishing 52% growth rate over the past nine years, New York's cultural industry is responsible for more than 150,000 jobs. While analysts foresee continued slow or flat employment growth for financial services, they predict the creative economy will continue growing, almost across the board." Backstage 11/26/02

IN SEARCH OF FUNDING: Earlier this year the Nova Scotia government disbanded its arts council, looking for "administrative savings." Now a group of arts supporters has formed its own arts support group. "The new group, Arms Length Funding for the Arts (ALFA), calls itself a 'broad group of concerned Nova Scotians' trying to restore funding for the arts." CBC 11/22/02

CONTINUING TO BUILD: The arts building boom continues, even though arts groups around America are struggling for money. "Despite terrorist attacks, rising costs, decreases in consumers' discretionary spending, and myriad philanthropic challenges, the theatrical building and renovation boom is arguably as hot as it was in the 1990s - and not just in New York City." Backstage 11/20/02

BAY AREA BLUES: Northern California's East Bay arts groups are hurting in the economic downturn like arts groups everywhere. Ticket sales are down, government funding has been slashed, and corporate donations have slipped. Contra Costa Times 11/19/02

• AND MINNESOTA: Minnesota has traditionally funded the arts at a higher level than the rest of the country. But a new report says that foundation giving to the arts has been scaled back, and that small arts groups are hardest hit by the financial squeeze. Dance is the poorest-funded of all the arts. The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) 11/19/02

AN ARTS MAYOR HAS DIFFICULTY DELIVERING: When Atlanta's new mayor was elected last year, hopes were high in the cultural community. "She not only understood the arts, she consumed them, championed them and lived with them long before she reached the top job at City Hall. The business of running Atlanta, however, has stifled the artistic muse. The city's financial mess and archaic sewer system have prevented her from making arts and culture more of an official priority." Atlanta Journa-Constitution 11/17/02

ANGRY IRISH ARTISTS PICKET AWARDS CEREMONY: Artists in Belfast are angry about cuts of 20 percent in the city's arts budget. So they picketed the council's high-profile Arts Awards Thursday night to "highlight what they felt was official hypocrisy in celebrating their achievements while cutting their budgets. A letter signed by 250, a who's who of the Northern Irish scene, hammered home the message, and 14 of the nominees boycotted the gala." The Guardian (UK) 11/15/02

ARIZONA FACES ARTS CHALLENGES: Like many cities, Phoenix has an arts industry that contributes significantly to the area's economic and cultural life. And yet, it has some big challenges, including finding entrenched funding support and growing deep roots in the community. "There is no political grasp of the strategic role the arts can play in the region." Arizona Republic 11/08/02

ARTS FUNDING CUTS IN SAN JOSE: The San Jose Arts Commission is proposing to reduce its funding grants by 10 percent because of a drop in the city's take from the hotel-motel tax. "The city has already paid 50 percent of the original 2002-03 grant money to the organizations it awarded grants in June. The second payment, to be made in January, would reflect the entire 10 percent decrease." San Jose Mercury-News 11/13/02

ART FUNDING - IS THE CRISIS TEMPORARY, OR... Arts groups in America are in a funding crisis. But are the problems temporary, the result of a down economy, or is it something more ominous? "On one side is the notion that most of the current problems in the arts are directly related to the economy - coupled with the cocooning tendency that set in after Sept. 11 - and will, inherently, improve along with the economy. On the other is the notion that the world has changed for good and that some arts groups still don't get it. In this way of thinking, the old institutional ways of doing business are moribund - and the new climate cannot be dealt with merely by putting more effort into sales and communications." Chicago Tribune 11/10/02

UK CORPORATIONS PULL ARTS SUPPORT: Corporations are pulling out of funding the arts in the UK. "Research by the consultancy Arts & Business shows that in the last financial year corporate sponsorship dropped from £150m to £114m - and all this year's dips and dives should send that figure crashing a further 20-30 per cent. Put brutally, business is getting fed up with the arts. There's not enough grovelling or payback, and grand opera or Britart doesn't bring either the exposure or the coverage that big sporting events afford." The Telegraph (UK) 11/06/02

MELBOURNE'S ARTS CRISIS: What's happened to the arts in Melbourne? "National arts companies say Melbourne ticket sales are in crisis, while box-office takings are booming in Sydney, where prices are higher. Leading Melbourne arts figures are dismayed at the fall in patronage and challenge the validity of Melbourne's long-held claim to be the cultural capital." The Age (Melbourne) 11/04/02

IGNORING THE ARTS: The state of Massachusetts has always been a haven for progressive politics and a leader in arts support, but this year may be different. Artists are concerned about the commitment of the two leading gubernatorial candidates to public arts funding in a year when the state cultural council saw its budget slashed by more than 60%. Neither candidate has even a vague outline of a position on the future of the arts, and the arts community doesn't seem to have the political clout to change that. Boston Globe 10/31/02

RETHINKING UK ARTS FUNDING: Has British public funding of the arts backfired on itself? "The English system of funding has fallen victim to the necessity of political justification. Everything has to have a catch phrase - outreach, cultural diversity, accessibility. All these things were inherent in the best companies anyway - but it has led to tremendous bureaucracy. What can be done? Are there lessons to be gleaned from abroad about the way we fund our arts?" The Guardian (UK) 10/28/02

GETTING DOWN: How do American arts groups cope with a down economy? "Museums make cutbacks, reduce budgets, lay off personnel. Symphony orchestras search for new donors, new ways to get cash. A theater group pulls back its cast sizes. A big city opera cuts salaries of its top directors. This is the drama of making the arts work in a slowing economy... Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP) 10/24/02

• TOUGH TIMES IN ATLANTA: Atlanta arts groups are facing deficits and tough times. "Even arts groups with healthy, balanced books are worried about running up deficits in the current economic environment. Since most lack endowments, they are dependent on earned income - namely ticket sales. One false move at the box office could spell disaster. With that in mind, some organizations have adopted conservative measures." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 10/24/02
• SEATTLE SLOWDOWN: After spending more than a billion dollars on building new arts facilities, Seattle arts groups are finding a slowdown in attendance and financial support... Seattle Post-Intelligencer 10/24/02

RETURN ON INVESTMENT: A new study of the Denver arts scene reveals what several other recent surveys have concluded on a national level to be true for the local area as well: the arts are a darned good investment of public funds. "Cultural revenue was $208 million, half earned through ticket and other sales and the other half through contributions and cultural tourism generated $139 million, including attracting 860,000 visitors from outside the state." Denver Business Journal 10/22/02

BUST FOLLOWS BIG BOOM: In the four years between 1997 and 2001, Orange County California experienced an arts boom, says a new study. "According to the survey, the take from paid admissions to museums, performances and arts festivals soared 58.6% during the boom economy - from $29.5 million in 1997 to $46.8 million in 2001. The number of paying patrons rose 37%, from 1.45 million to 2 million. Donations to operating budgets grew 65.1%, from $29.8 million to $49.2 million. With total income up 56.2%, the arts groups raised their spending even more aggressively - by 58.9%. The number of full-time employees increased 40%, from 417 to 585." And then came the slowdown after 9/11... Los Angeles Times 10/23/02

CANADIAN ARTS DOWN: The 1990s were a terrible decade for Canadian arts institutions. A new study reports that attendance and funding were down, while expenses went up. The number of performances and exhitions fell. "Total attendance dropped by five per cent in the decade, to roughly 13.3 million from 14 million. At the same time, rising costs resulted in virtually all the country's largest performing arts organizations - the Stratford and Shaw Theatre Festivals excepted - reporting deficits." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/22/02

ARGENTINA - ART IN A TIME OF CRISIS: "The Argentine economic crisis, in statistical terms at least as severe as the Great Depression, has profoundly altered the arts in this country - but not in the way one might expect. Despite the crisis, or more likely because of it, new performance and exhibition spaces have opened, artistic groups have formed and attendance at cultural events has stayed the same or increased." The American Prospect 10/16/02

SEASONAL DISORDER: Fewer Americans are buying season tickets for arts events and buying more single tickets. "This trend, exacerbated by the economic slowdown, may have enormous effects on what is presented, who attends and how performing arts groups manage their budgets. In classical music, more seats are being sold overall — 32 million attended the symphony nationwide last season, up from 27 million a decade ago — but for shorter series and on shorter notice, often through the Internet." The New York Times 10/16/02

THE DOWNSIDE OF AN ECONOMIC CASE FOR ART: It might have been effective at first to make economic arguments for the arts in Australia. But "it's the kind of language that turns our society into 'the economy', of citizens into 'the consumers' and our public funds into 'taxpayers' money'." And it results in creatively "arid" programming, say arts administrators attending a weekend conference. Sydney Morning Herald 10/14/02

WHAT ECONOMIC RECOVERY? Even as the government continues to insist that America is on the road to better economic times, the stock market continues to take large chunks out of some of the nation's heaviest wallets, and that uncertainty is causing severe pains to U.S. arts groups, and not just from their dwindling endowments. In the last months, Alberto Vilar and Ted Turner, two of America's biggest arts supporters, have warned of possible defaults on their pledges to various groups, and countless more heavy hitters in the philanthropic world are said to be in similar financial straits. Even worse, the continuing tide of corporate scandals is making CEOs cautious about spending their money on arts groups, and that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon. The New York Times 10/11/02

• CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, the arts actually represent a darned good investment for state and local governments. A new study "found that the nonprofit arts industry (museums, theater companies, performing arts centers, orchestras, dance companies, arts councils) generates $134 billion in economic activity nationally every year," yet these programs are nearly always the first to have their funding slashed or yanked completely when a difficult economy threatens. And that's not going to change until arts groups make a concerted and organized effort to demonstrate the financial gains of government support to the people who decide where the money goes. Boston Globe 10/12/02

DECLINE IN VALUE: American arts organizations are facing a triple whammy - declining corporate support because of the economy, cuts in government support, and - because of the battered stock market - substantial declines in the value of endowments. "This has been the most challenging time for our cultural institutions in my memory. We're seeing erosions between 15 and 60 percent in the market value of endowments at arts institutions nationwide." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 10/09/02

BUILT-IN DEFICIT? The Ordway Center, St. Paul Minnesota's largest performing arts venue, has racked up another deficit - not a large one, but the latest in a string of cash shortfalls that have characterized most of the hall's 18 years. Is a deficit built into the place? "These customary deficits must be fixed. The consistency of these deficits over the life of the Ordway is startling. You just can't do business like this." The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) 09/24/02

PERSONAL SEAT LICENSES, ANYONE? Sports franchises long ago learned that ticket sales are simply not dependable enough to serve as your organization's major source of income, and moved towards sponsorship deals, 'seat licenses,' and luxury box rentals as primary revenue streams. But arts groups continue to struggle annually with the problem of how to get enough butts in the seats to keep the bottom line at bay. Worse, there seems to be a dramatic nationwide move towards spur-of-the-moment ticket buying which is eroding subscription sales and putting tremendous pressure on marketing departments. Accordingly, many arts organizations are reinventing the way they sell tickets, with shorter subscriptions and deeper discounts for patrons. Boston Globe 09/22/02

MICHIGAN ARTS FUNDING SURVIVES: While many state arts agencies have taken big cuts - Massachusetts cut its arts budget by 60 percent, and states like Colorado and California also took huge hits - Michigan's state arts council has escaped largely intact despite a sluggish economy. The state just awarded $22.6 million in grants, a drop of $1 million, or 4 percent, compared with last year. Detroit Free Press 09/14/02

SURVEY - ARTISTS HURT BY 9/11: A survey of New York artists says artists have had a tough time since 9/11. "According the survey, four out of five artists have suffered a loss of income since last September, with the average loss in individual income being 46 percent. As a result, artists are increasingly forced to dip into their savings and to increase their debt load; 60 percent of survey respondents reported taking on more debt in the last year." The New York Times 09/17/02

NOW HERE'S AN ARTS POLICY (NOT): London mayor Ken Livingston - like many politicians these days - wants to be a player in the arts industry (after all, it's non-polluting and makes money). But politicians have such a wide definition of culture as to make the word almost meaningless, write Norman Lebrecht. "The best a city can do for culture is to foster a climate where it can speak freely and reach millions. That requires a vibrant press (unlike New York, where debate is monop olised by the Times), a modicum of prosperity and a reliable transport system - unlike London, where many of us miss the first half of shows through getting stuck in the Tube or the traffic." London Evening Standard 09/17/02

DAMN THE TORPEDOES: It's not just the traditional centers of the American arts world which are continuing to expand despite a national economic downturn. In Kansas City, arts administrators have refused to panic, and the result is a surprisingly progressive scene. "At the moment, the big local arts groups say they are financially stable, although in some cases their endowments have been whittled by the stock market decline that begin in the spring of 2000 and has wiped out more than $7 trillion in investments." Kansas City Star 09/15/02

MIAMI DELAY: Miami's new performing arts center, scheduled to open in the fall of 2004, might have its opening delayed by a year. The project is facing construction delays, and rather than rushing to meet the opening deadline, officials want to take their time. "We want to take time and be fully prepared for the opening. We saw what happened in Philadelphia when the Kimmel Center [for the Performing Arts] opening was rushed to completion. There were a lot of unfavorable reactions that might have been avoided.'' Miami Herald 09/07/02

APOLLO PULLS BACK: Harlem's Apollo Theatre has been enjoying a revival in recent years. The theatre hoped to capitalize on that with plans for a big performing arts complex expansion. But late last week the theatre canceled the plans, and the head of the theatre's foundation resigned. "Executives of the Apollo Theater Foundation cited the poor economic climate as the reason for delaying the plan, which was still in the early stages. Instead, they said, they would concentrate on a renovation of the theater, which is already under way." The New York Times 09/10/02

SCOTS DEBATE ARTS FUNDING: Should funding of culture be one of the Scottish government's central functions? As the country debates the issue, a new survey asks Scots about their support for funding. It finds that "82 per cent said central government should support the arts, while 96 per cent said cultural activities gave them personal pleasure. The arts enriched the quality of life according to 83 per cent of respondents and a similar proportion said they represented good value for money." The Scotsman 09/09/02

SACRAMENTO SLASH: "California Arts Council officials say the state's new budget, sealed Thursday with Gov. Gray Davis' signature, means their agency's support for artists and arts organizations statewide will drop roughly 40%--from $28 million last year to $16.4 million in the 2002-03 fiscal year... However, the state's spending plan shelters the largest single recipient of California Arts Council money, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, which for the last few years has been getting $2 million in state money to support its "tools for tolerance" education program." Los Angeles Times 09/07/02

SEEKING A FULL PLATE: In 1997, Minnesota introduced a special "Critical Habitat" license plate. For an additional $30, residents get a designer plate for their cars, and the state's Department of Natural Resources gets the extra cash for its various projects around the state. The program has been wildly successful, with well over a million dollars going to the DNR every year from the plates. So why not try it with the arts? "Let's say that just 1 percent of the 3.3 million Minnesotans who saw an arts event last year purchased a Critical Arts license plate, and that they renewed that plate annually. That would represent almost a million dollars in new state money every year for the arts. All without raising taxes a nickel." Saint Paul Pioneer Press 09/08/02

PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION: A new performing arts center set to debut in St. Louis next year is going ahead with plans to open on schedule, despite increasing evidence that the money to operate the PAC may not be there. The project, which is on the campus of the University of Missouri at St. Louis, has been known to be in trouble for some time, and consultants have determined that the center will not be able to pay for its own upkeep on a year-to-year basis. The university is hoping that the state government will bail it out to the tune of $1 million a year in operating costs, but there is no indication that the legislature will cooperate. Saint Louis Post Dispatch 09/02/02

ART VS. PROFIT: When exactly did it become an incontrovertible truth that arts organizations should be run like for-profit businesses? Certainly no one would argue that a dose of fiscal sanity and even occasional conservatism is no bad thing in the service of art, but recently, there seems to be a general assumption that art should pay its own way or hit the road. And that, says Peter Dobrin, is a dangerous philosophy. "Marketing teams are now part of the artistic planning process from the inception of an idea, weighing in on whether repertoire will win audiences. No surprise that programming has grown conservative. The spirit of daring at the Opera Company of Philadelphia can't be heard amid the din of a march from Carmen." Philadelphia Inquirer 09/01/02