American Arts Organizations Hit Hard by Recession

CCA Bul­letin 10/09

March 24 , 2009

 

Just the Facts

The cur­rent eco­nomic reces­sion is tak­ing its toll on the Amer­i­can arts com­mu­nity. The National Endow­ment for the Arts (NEA), the Amer­i­can ver­sion of the Canada Coun­cil for the Arts, reports that unem­ploy­ment for artists has risen sharply.

The NEA is also admin­is­ter­ing a fifty mil­lion dol­lar recov­ery fund to keep jobs in the arts. The fund is part of the larger $ 787 bil­lion dol­lar recov­ery pack­age passed by the Con­gress last month. The grants under the recov­ery plan are one-time grants.

Arts orga­ni­za­tions are fac­ing dif­fi­cult choices. The Rose Gallery of Bran­deis Uni­ver­sity in Waltham, Mass­a­chu­setts is one of the most pres­ti­gious col­lec­tions of Amer­i­can art. Due to a shrink­ing in its endow­ment, the Uni­ver­sity decided to sell off its col­lec­tion to make up for the dif­fer­ence. This deci­sion prompted a pub­lic out­cry which caused the Uni­ver­sity to reverse its ear­lier decision.

The National Acad­emy is another promi­nent arts orga­ni­za­tion under pres­sure. The mem­ber­ship of the Acad­emy fea­tures the best-known Amer­i­can visual artists each of whom have con­tributed a work to be held in its col­lec­tion. Fac­ing a seri­ous short­fall in the rev­enues of its endow­ment, the Acad­emy planned to sell two works from its vast col­lec­tion to make up the short­fall. The Amer­i­can Museum Direc­tors Orga­ni­za­tion (AMDO) blocked the move on the basis that the col­lec­tion of the Acad­emy is held in pub­lic trust and can­not be sold off. The Acad­emy and the AMDO have reached an agree­ment which reaf­firms the pub­lic trust over the collection.

One of the largest Amer­i­can arts umbrella orga­ni­za­tions, Grant­mak­ers in the Arts, has started a blog, Eco­nomic Tur­moil and Change, which is updated daily with arti­cles on how the arts are being affected by the cur­rent eco­nomic environment.

Tell me more

The CCA is mon­i­tor­ing the impact of the cur­rent reces­sion on the Cana­dian arts and cul­ture sec­tor. Any infor­ma­tion you might have that would add to this pic­ture would be most appreciated.

In Decem­ber 2008, the CCA sub­mit­ted a brief to the Min­is­ter of Finance, the Hon. James Fla­herty, detail­ing mea­sures which would help the arts and cul­ture sec­tor stim­u­late the Cana­dian econ­omy. The CCA also informed the Min­is­ter that fur­ther mea­sures might be required and that he would be advised of fur­ther devel­op­ments in the sec­tor. So far, one of the most press­ing rec­om­men­da­tions made by the sec­tor has been to rein­vest urgently in the devel­op­ment of for­eign mar­kets by replac­ing the TradeR­outes and Pro­mArt pro­grams. These rep­re­sen­ta­tions have not yet received a response from the Her­itage Min­is­ter, the Hon. James Moore.