opinion
When the state of Ohio ordered entertainment venues to close and public gatherings be limited to stop the spread of COVID-19, the lights went down on our nonprofit arts – organizations and places ranging from Cincinnati Shakespeare Company to the Taft Theater, from the Fitton Center to the Covedale, Music Hall and more.
With the dimming of the lights went millions of dollars in revenue – $40 million and counting in the Cincinnati region since March – and thousands of jobs. According to June 2020 Ohio Labor Market statistics, the state’s highest unemployment rates are within the Arts and Entertainment industry, at 47%. These unemployed workers are highly talented professional artists, actors, dancers, musicians, curators, educators, crew members, administrators and staff. The rate of unemployment in Ohio’s Arts and Entertainment industry is nearly 20 percentage points higher than the next highest impacted industry, Leisure and Hospitality, at 30%.
The arts were among the first businesses to close and the last to be allowed to reopen. Furloughs, layoffs, lost gigs, reduced contracts, diminished cash reserves and other signs of economic instability are compounding, despite prudent cost-cutting decisions and a generous community. Private donations can’t make up the difference in lost revenue from nightly ticket sales and sponsorships.
This week, theaters and concert halls received welcome guidance for resuming live performances in the form of new industry orders from Gov. Mike DeWine. However, the restrictions on audience size make a return to the arts all but impossible. The economics of the performing arts simply do not work when only 15% of seats can be sold or audiences are limited to 300 people, whichever is less. Imagine 300 people at the Aronoff Center or just 27 in the audience at Ensemble Theatre in Over-the-Rhine.
The arts are largely dependent on shared, congregate experiences – risky in the time of COVID-19. We share a commitment to our region’s and Ohio’s health. But no business can be expected to survive without aid or subsidies after being required to stay closed for six months, a year, or more – indeed, all indications suggest that a complete return will not occur until well into 2021.
There is no good answer, but there is a great need: we must ensure that our region’s arts organizations survive until it is possible to reopen at full capacity. Government investment in the arts is necessary now, in the same way it is necessary for other industries, so that the arts are in a position to restart when it is safe to do so.
The arts in Ohio are a $41 billion industry. In Cincinnati, arts organizations generate an economic impact of $300 million annually, support 10,000-plus jobs, and play a key role in attracting and retaining top talent to our businesses. They supplement school curricula by providing nearly 300,000 experiences for youth each year. They make our neighborhoods distinctive and lively, with more than 1,000 free events outside the concert hall, theater or gallery. They bring customers to the neighborhoods in which they are located. According to Americans for the Arts, for every arts ticket purchased, arts patrons spend an additional $31 on restaurants, bars, retail, hotels and parking.
One of the ironies of 2020 is that an industry with the potential to heal, uplift, reconcile, inspire and boost our economy and build our reputation, is largely quieted by the pandemic. The stakes are high. ArtsWave and its partner arts organizations call on city, county, state and federal elected officials to make the nonprofit arts an immediate priority for meaningful financial relief.
You can help too, by donating to ArtsWave’s Arts Vibrancy Recovery Fund at artswave.org/recovery.
Alecia Kintner is president and CEO of ArtsWave.
Public relief for the arts is supported by the following local organizations: Kimberlee Flamm, Executive Director, ArtsConnect; Cameron Kitchin, Director, Cincinnati Art Museum; Steve Loftin, President, Cincinnati Arts Association; Scott Altman, President and CEO, Cincinnati Ballet; Katie MacDonald, Executive Director, Cincinnati Boychoir; Tim Perrino, Executive Artistic Director, Cincinnati Landmark Productions; Steven Sunderman, Executive Director, Cincinnati May Festival and Vocal Arts Ensemble; Elizabeth Pierce, CEO, Cincinnati Museum Center; Chris Milligan, General Director & CEO, Cincinnati Opera; Buzz Ward, Managing Director and Blake Robison, Artistic Director, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Rich Eiswerth, President, General Manager & CEO, Cincinnati Public Radio; Brian Isaac Phillips, Producing Artistic Director, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; Jonathan Martin, President, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Lauren Hess, Executive Director, Cincinnati Youth Choir; Leslie Mooney, Executive Director, Clifton Cultural Arts Center; Stanley Romanstein, Dean, University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music; Raphaela Platow, Director and Chief Curator, Contemporary Arts Center; Jefferson James, Founder, Artistic & Executive Director, Contemporary Dance Theater; Tom Kent and Abdullah Powell, Co-Directors, Elementz; D. Lynn Meyers, Producing Artistic Director, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati; Ian MacKenzie-Thurley, Executive Director, Fitton Center for Creative Arts; Ellen Muse-Lindeman, Executive Director, Kennedy Heights Arts Center; Andrew Hungerford, Producing Artistic Director, Know Theatre of Cincinnati; Kathy Wade, Co-founder and CEO, Learning Through Art, Inc.; Jason Franz, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center; Betsey Nuseibeh, Executive Director, Melodic Connections; Woodrow Keown, Jr., President & COO, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Kim Popa, Co-Founder/Director, Pones; Sean FitzGibbons, Executive Director, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park; Deborah Scott, President and CEO, Taft Museum of Art; Kim Best, Executive Director, The Carnegie; Sarah Weiss, CEO, Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center; Kim Kern, Managing Director & CEO, The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati; Julie Collinsworth, Executive Director, Wyoming Fine Arts Center; Kitty Lensman, COO, ThinkTV.
"Opinion" - Google News
August 31, 2020 at 08:37PM
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Opinion: Arts groups need meaningful financial relief to survive - The Cincinnati Enquirer
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