The Business Case for Supporting the Arts
Audiences have yet to
return to pre-pandemic levels for many arts organizations. Yes, they need your
financial help, but more importantly they need to be part of your culture and
business community. Buy tickets and share them. Music, dance, and theater help
make cities vibrant -- and we could use a little more of that these days.
BY HOWARD
TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH
INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1
Every arts organization
in the country, large and small, without regard to location, is suffering in
the post-pandemic era from a lengthy assortment of ailments that in fairness
are largely out of their control. With the possible exception of certain mega-churches,
which are more political and marketing organizations than religious
institutions, you could say the same thing about most churches, synagogues and
other community-based organizations. While the COVID declines were abrupt and
radical, the recoveries and returns to anything like pre-pandemic levels have
been slow and far from sufficient for most of these entities to make ends meet.
The world is still very much watching and waiting to fully re-engage.
The common list of
constraints and concerns includes: the lapsing, expirations, and general
disappearance of government arts and venue assistance programs; significant
increases in operating and staffing costs as well as employee retention issues;
cutbacks in donor support, media in-kind promotional partnerships and corporate
sponsorships; and, of course, dramatic declines in attendance and
participation, which have shrunk new memberships and renewals, and overall
audiences. Museums and venues that are generally more spacious than theatres
are doing incrementally better but a major staple -- school group visits -- hasn't
seemed to have returned.
An equally important
consideration in the economics is the traditional timing of funding and
receipts. So many of these groups depend on front-end loading and annual subscriptions
to provide the resources necessary to program performances throughout the year.
But the public's new and residual uncertainty and reluctance to make
longer term commitments - even as short as a few weeks ahead of an event - has
seriously disrupted the normal cash flow and operations of these organizations.
Out of town visitors and
tour groups, which comprise significant parts of theatrical and museum
admissions, are also long-lead endeavors that don't yet appear to be again
represented except perhaps in New York City where shows are pre-packaged with
tours. This problem has been exacerbated by the growth of rampant and random
crime in the central business districts of many major cities. No one wants to
be the latest victim. Interestingly enough, the recovery has been much better
for smaller neighborhood venues and for those located in the suburbs where the
offerings are far more varied and diverse, the crowds are smaller and older,
and there is less concern about robberies, gangbanger shootings and
carjackings.
The business
leaders and government officials in most of these cities continue to regard
this as someone else's problem. They content themselves with pro
forma delegated responses and by throwing a few bucks in the general
direction of their fewer and fewer favorite players. They feel that they have
much bigger fish to fry and frankly don't understand that their ability to
attract, retain and excite their current employees and especially new recruits
depends far more than they imagine on the arts, music, culture, and
entertainment resources of their city. You only need to look at the continuing
influx and growth of startups and tech talent to and in Austin, Nashville, Atlanta,
and Pittsburgh to see the impact.
For too many business
leaders, age, ignorance, and lack of exposure are clearly factors. They are
largely insulated and removed (except for the persistent supplications of
Swiftie-besotted children and grandchildren) from the more current, diverse,
and popular entertainments. But there is a far more serious misunderstanding at
work here. This isn't a problem -- as we used to say -- that can simply be
solved with a check. You can backstop the arts with bucks for a while, but you
need a better and longer-term plan to bolster the arts by building, educating,
and exposing new audiences. That takes more than simply a bigger donation.
Companies that really
want to help save and secure their cities need to understand that, if you help
foster and encourage your employees' engagement with these activities, the
economics will largely take care of themselves. Money never leads, it follows.
Widening the lens of your involvement beyond just stroking a slightly larger
check doesn't diminish or dilute the desired impact; rather, it expands and
broadens the effect. In the same way that a candle loses nothing in lighting
another candle, rather it spreads and increases the light.
Here are a couple of
simple steps for leaders to help pay more than just lip service to saving the
arts in our cities. Success in these endeavors is a different kind of numbers
game - building the bandwagon, creating the crowds, re-generating buzz, and
even some FOMO -- all help to spread the word and convince the wallflowers to
join the fun. Real art is communal and active. Attendees become advocates and
word-of-mouth salespeople who are far more credible and persuasive than mere
marketers.
(1) Lead by
Personal Example - Go See a Show
Your people aren't going
to listen to your lectures and ignore your behavior. It's always more helpful
and convincing to lead from the front and definitely a worthwhile investment of
your time. Leadership is a performance art that needs to be visible. You
need to be conscious about your behavior because everyone else is. Enjoy the
show and let people know that you did.
(2) Buy Season
Tickets - Share Them Among the Staff
Just like the boss's
baseball or football seats, splitting up a couple of season tickets and
spreading the shows and performances among the employees who'd love the
experience, but can't afford to make that kind of financial commitment, is a
great way to expose and excite your people about the arts.
(3) Bring the
Artists to Your Place - Break Down the Barriers
This isn't as hard to do
or costly as you might imagine. Performers love to talk about their work and
these kinds of in-office luncheons and other talks are great, up-close, and
personal ways to inform and educate your teams --- and also to bring them back
into the office for good reasons.
(4) Send a School
to See Something: a Museum, a Concert... Anything
Nothing has suffered
more than arts education and resources in our schools and there's very little
on the horizon to suggest that things will get better any time soon. This is an
excellent time to "adopt" a nearby school's arts program and send a
couple of classes of kids each semester to see a new exhibit, show or event somewhere
in the city.
OCT 10, 2023
