In the June 8 edition of Time magazine, Richard Lacayo reports on how the recession is affecting arts organizations nationwide. “On May 18, the First Lady traveled to New York City to inaugurate the newly refurbished American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Later she moved on to the city’s other Met—the Metropolitan Opera House… As a moment of social and cultural pageantry, the visit was a hit. But it carried an anxious subtext. The Great Recession has struck museums and performing-arts groups with a vengeance… The problem is that these groups have been hit in all three of their main revenue streams. For many of them, audiences are down sharply, because in a recession a theater ticket or concert seat can seem like an indulgence. Meanwhile, with corporate profits tanking and charitable endowments badly deflated, donations and underwriting have also been drying up.” In the article, Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts, says, “Most organizations have been hurt. But arts organizations aren’t driven by profit. They’re driven by mission. And they’ll do anything to survive.”
Posted June 3, 2009
