Arts crisis continues in Atlanta
March 18, 2009 at 2:37 pm by Scott Henry in News
A painting from Andrew Cayce's exhibit "Recent Paintings" currently on view at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.
Last week’s cover story, “Atlanta’s arts organizations brace for crisis,” offered a fairly bleak and depressing look at the struggle for survival in which local arts organizations – both non-profit groups and private galleries – now find themselves as a result of a shrinking economy. The article looked at the dwindling audiences, reduced grants and a fall-off in individual donations that many arts groups are experiencing.
For the most part, it’s a bummer of a read, perhaps summed up best by this quote from Susan Weiner, executive director of the Georgia Council for the Arts: “We’re looking at a growing crisis.”
But the story did attempt to offset all that bad news with an example of a group that’s coping with this crisis fairly well. I used Dad’s Garage, which has managed to hang on to its audience, as that example, but I could have chosen others. Since the story ran, I’ve heard from other groups that are hanging in there, such as the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, which began the year by winning a $120,000 Warhol grant, and The Shakespeare Tavern, which sold out the recent opening weekend for “The Canterbury Tales.”
I didn’t intend to give the impression that all is doom and gloom, but rather that the dire economy is hurting nearly all arts organizations to some degree and is already forcing a few to radically change their programming or payroll in order to keep their heads above water.
One of the people I spoke to for the article was Kim Patrick Bitz, the long-standing (but not founding, as I mistakenly indicated) executive director of the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts. Bitz described some beneficial collaborations between some members – e.g. Theatrical Outfit renting its space to stage-less theater groups – as well as some examples of downsizing and diminished expectations.
Well, not long after the article hit the racks, I learned that Bitz himself is the latest victim of the financial crisis in the arts. Here’s an except from a notice that went out Tuesday to ACPA members:
In an effort to lower operating costs, we have decided to restructure staff by hiring an Executive Administrator and dissolving the position of Executive Director. Board volunteers will operate the organization during the search for the Executive Administrator, with a projected hire date of June 1, 2009.
This downturn is a serious thing, folks.
That said, we welcome you to share examples of things going well, revenue goals being met, uninterrupted sponsorships – any success stories in the arts that can offer lessons for survival in the rough times to come.
(Photo of art by Joeff Davis)
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