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The Crisis in the Arts MANAGEMENT CAN BE CREATIVE, TOO By CHRISTIAN P. FREDERIKSEN/National Services Director for Cultural Institutions, and DIANE LANSING/Director, Community Service Organizations Program From the standpoint of a museum director or, say, the general manager of a performing arts organization, 1974 was not a banner year in terms of finances—and 1975 does not look much better. Costs are skyrocketing when the public can least afford higher prices. A major increase in government funding seems remote as pressure mounts for restraint in public spending. And convincing a major donor to keep supporting the opera, when his investment portfolio has all but disintegrated, takes a near miracle. The arts "industry" is particularly vulnerable to both recession and inflation. Expenditures for labor, the principal expense of an arts organization, are rising rapidly, as salaries for support personnel increase and as artists themselves, no longer content with their traditionally substandard incomes, are demanding higher wages. Various surveys have indicated that the majority of Americans believe arts organizations are self-supporting. This is not true—admission revenues never have and probably never will cover the cost of operations. A large part of any arts budget has to come from public and private sources. What are these sources of financial support? Historically, the major support has come from foundations and individuals, and to a lesser extent from government and corporations. In recent years, however, the influence of government has been expanding. This changing pattern of support creates new challenges and new problems for arts organizations. "Social responsibility" is a current buzz-word in the arts. Simply stated, both donors and recipient organizations have taken steps to make the arts available to a wider segment of the community and to enlist a broader base of funding. This has been prompted particularly by government programs. Many state and federal grants have been used to encourage arts groups to tour in culturally and geographically isolated communities and to perform before students or for the elderly and handicapped. In addition, to encourage increased public support of the arts, many government grants now require organizations to raise matching funds in order to receive funds. These programs have been beneficial. They have undoubtedly helped organizations to expand their involvement in their communities, although they still remain largely outside the mainstream of local government planning, decision-making, and programming. Likewise, the matching requirements have created the necessity for a stronger base of local support money. The programs have stabilized some organizations by permitting them to maintain longer seasons—in some cases to operate throughout the year; this avoids the agonies of an annual birth and death cycle. Recipients of government funds have, however, been left on their own to develop support functions for these programs. Examples are arrangements for bookings and touring, new fund-raising approaches, and methods for reaching new audiences. In addition, as the level of support has grown, so has the complexity of application, reporting, and evaluation procedures. Experience in other nonprofit industries, such as health care and education, suggests that continued government funding will lead to even more administrative controls on the grantees. These are some of the economic facts of life. There is certainly no lack of concern on the part of arts leaders; the question remains only as to how the problems can be resolved. There are two areas where arts organizations can move rapidly and practically to improve their situation. One is the area of administration and management; the other is the way in which arts organizations are structured. Managing the Arts Arts administrators usually have been chosen because of their interest in a particular art form, seldom because they have specific management ability or training. This selection process has had predictable results. With costs soaring and with intense competition for available financial support, there is a growing realization among arts groups that effective management techniques are necessary for survival. Several outside forces are causing arts management to be upgraded: • A growing number of grants and major donations are either for management assistance or are contingent upon specific management results. Many Ford Foundation grants, for example, are continued only if the grantee reaches a specified goal in terms of fund raising, deficit reduction, or some other milestone. • Several enterprises, such as Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and local volunteer service bureaus, have been set up to provide basic legal and management guidance, generally to smaller groups. • The recognition of the arts as an industry has led a number of universities to offer specialized programs in arts administration. These schools are graduating an ever-increasing number of trained arts administrators. • Corporate support of the arts is also acquiring new 47
Object Description
Title |
Management can be creative, too |
Author |
Frederiksen, Christian P. Lansing, Diane |
Subject |
Arts -- Management |
Abstract | Photographs not included in Web version |
Citation |
Tempo, Vol. 21, no. 2 (1975), p. 47-49 |
Date-Issued | 1975 |
Source | Originally published by: Touche Ross, & Co. |
Rights | Copyright and permission to republish held by: Deloitte |
Type | Text |
Format | PDF page image with corrected OCR scanned at 400 dpi |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Library. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2010 |
Language | eng |
Identifier | Tempo_1975_Autumn-p47-49e |