Monday, March 16, 2009

Losing 10k arts orgs

From Charlotte Higgins' story on Saturday about arts funding the U.K., "Arts world braced for 'hurricane' as recession hits," in The Guardian, a sobering contrast to the impact of the recession on arts orgs in the States:

Arts leaders are pointing to the bleak example of the U.S., where the arts, with minimal support from the public purse, exist at the whim of the market and where 10,000 arts organisations could collapse this year, according to Americans for the Arts.
According to Diane Ragsdale, associate programme officer of the U.S.-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a particular problem for American arts organisations is the hits taken by endowments, which are failing to yield income - or are actually "underwater," meaning their current value has dropped beneath their historical value.
"Some organisations have endowments in the millions - but cannot make their payroll," she said.
In the UK, the problems are less extreme, and many corporate sponsorship deals signed before the crisis hit are still in place.

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