Kennedy Center Offers Administrators Help

Michael Kaiser of the Kennedy Center has offered administrative counseling to arts organizations around the country as they adjust to the economic realities of 2009 and beyond.(www.artsincrisis.org)  In the NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/arts/04arts-KENNEDYCENTE_BRF.html?ref=arts), Kaiser notes that "We're in a crisis point, and I believe it's going to get worse."

I think we are all in agreement with him there -- the economic downturn has not hit bottom, and the arts are struck on all sides:  tickets are a luxury, not a necessity, individual donors have less to give, corporations are cutting back almost completely, foundations are trying to cover the holes created by corporation shifts, and county and state governments are making drastic cuts to arts funding (for example, the 2010 budget for the state of Maryland is 36% less than the original 2009 budget line for the arts).  

Still, as a leader of an arts organization with barely a moment to spare -- I wonder how Mr. Kaiser much less his executive staff, can handle the likely onslaught of pleas for help from his offer. Due to a decrease in work hours from our furlough and a shift in staffing and programming, most of my executive staff are working overtime as it is.  People can only run on empty for so long before the smell of burning rubber meets the senses.  And, as Mr. Kaiser notes, the end is nowhere near insight. I wish the best for his staff and look forward to hearing of the advice he is able to dispense.