OperaLive!

What do you get when Vancouver Opera crosses Japanese-style mange with opera? Why, OperaLive!, of course! I was introduced to this website in this blogpost from Opera Chic. In order to attract and educate a younger audience about opera. The website includes videos of interviews with cast members, mp3s and podcasts, but the coolest part of it is definitely the manga. Vancouver Opera has taken condensed versions of libretti and animated them into totally cool comic book-style reads.

As cool as it is, do you think that this will make the YPs buy tickets to opera? Maybe. They help people get into contact with the stories, which can be totally twisted and crazy. Thus, they have a new point of entry to opera because they are more comfortable with the work onstage, and it also can get people excited because opera really isn't as boring as they may assume. But I'm not sure how much real conversion they can really expect from something like this.

What do you think?

--
Leslie Fay

Mortier is in Madrid!

Though this article about Mortier's next move is short, it's worth a little scan! Looks like Gerard Mortier, after ditching out on New York City Opera, is off to Madrid and the Teatro Real. He will be taking over for both artistic director Antonio Moral and music director, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, formerly of the Cincinnati Symphony. This continues in his trend of having to be completely in charge, considering he fired the Executive Director while he was still going to City Opera because he didn't need one of those, either. Staff at Teatro Madrid... WATCH OUT!

--
Leslie Fay

Market your concerts carefully

The Boston Symphony Orchestra recently lost its guest conductor, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, because he didn't like the way that his concerts were being marketed.  In particular, he took offense to posters that gave top billing to the cellist, and BSO brochures that left the maestro's name out of the "Artists who inspire" and "Distinguished Conductors" listings.  On the company website, the BSO stated that Mr. Rozhdestvansky was "unable to conduct these performances", while he gave the Boston Globe a different story.  This is just a warning to marketing departments, especially in symphony orchestras that put laudatory labels on various concert packages to divide up their lengthy seasons.  It might be a good idea to think about those artists and concerts that are left out of the "Distinguished" series along with those that are.

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/offended-by-marketing-maestro-quits-concerts/

 

Nate

It's a buyers market for modern art

The market bubble for Modern, Contemporary, and Impressionist Art has burst This has created some headaches for auctioneers and gallery owners and opportunities for buyers.  In the last year alone, the stock price for Sotheby's has dropped to $10 from $50.  Prices at auction are down 30% or more and will likely go lower.  Works that a year ago would never have appeared at auction are showing up in droves as art collectors try to cut their losses before the values go lower.  People who have taken out loans by using the value of their private art collections as collateral are in the same boat as homeowners who used their home's equity to borrow money.  As both values have dropped dramatically, these folks will have a hard time financing their debts.  In the meantime, art collectors are faced with opportunities to buy from a wide selction and at low prices.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1227135039966042291.html

 

Nate

Speaking of Letting Audience Members Blog on your Site...

There was a little blog post in one of my favorite Arts Administration blogs, the Artful Manager, written by the head of the UW Madison MBA Arts Administration program, about how terrifying it may be to open up your organization to negative commentary. Though it does not offer many answers, it simply shows how many organizations are trying to get their audience interactively involved. He talks about how organizations want to build a community around their content - they must be wracking their brains about what to do that would really make a difference, just like we were.

Hopefully, with so many folks thinking about it, we'll find a way to involve the audience positively!

--
Leslie Fay

City Opera scrambles to avoid the worst

Now after that optimistic posting, lets get back to the doom and gloom. As we know, City Opera is quickly heading up that well known tributary without a means of propulsion (aka, up a certain creek without a paddle) after Gerard Mortier abandoned ship and its current lack of season constrict revenues. In an attempt to reverse its course, City Opera has turned to Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center. With a reputation for saving arts organizations on the brink of collapse, will he prove to be the superhero City Opera needs? Although he is not coming on as a paid staff member, he has agreed to write a strategic plan for the organization and come up with a feasible budget. Lacking an executive director (Mortier eliminated this position) or general manager, the organization seems to be seeking leadership in any form.

Read NYTimes article 

--Erika

Good news for Pittsburgh Symphony

Amid all the bad news regarding the economy and the fiscal futures of many non-profits, I thought I would post this news story about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Yesterday it was announced that the orchestra has raised over $48 million towards repairs and its endowment, and it is well on its way to reaching its $80 million campaign goal. Although it will undoubtably be difficult to raise an additional $31 million in this fiscal climate, I'm sure everyone is happy to hear something positive and optimistic coming from a performing arts organization these days.

Read article 

--Erika

Grave Digger turned artist memorializes the dead

Artist Michael Butler is catching critics eyes not just for his talent, but for the unique medium from which he creates his paintings. Butler mixes his pigments with cremated human remains in an effort to create memorializing works of art for the living. While he certainly isn't the first artist to do so, his studio is creating quite a buzz. So if you're looking to honor a loved one or pet who has passed on, an 11X17 framed work will run you about $900. Oh, consider the holiday possibilities...

 

-

Ashley

YouTube video of the SoCal fires set to Shosti 10 (2nd mvt.)

This video was taken by a group of orchestra members on their way to concert as the fires in Southern California crossed the 91 freeway. It's short and intense. You should definitely check it out.

--
Leslie Fay Vaeth
University of Cincinnati
MBA '09 - School of Business
MA in Arts Administration '09 - College Conservatory of Music
Director of Operations - Linton Music Series
(202) 302-7192/cell

Is another one biting the dust!?

The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art is the latest large organization to feel pitch and do a little financial freaking out during this economic downtown (crisis?). But it is not just this current financial market that is causing problems. According to this LA Times article about the museum, it turns out that the museum burned through $20 million in unrestricted funds and borrow $7.5 million more from restricted accounts before the economic climate reached the current low level.

Interestingly enough, the article mentions some ideas that the management has been considering to shore up the finances - seems like none of them involve cutting costs besides the short term closure of one of its three exhibition spaces (which they rent for only $1 a year from the city). However, this does not include cutting any staff members associated with the space. Though it does say that it would shave 10% off operating costs, it doesn't mention moving any of the artwork to other spaces, either, meaning costly climate control for those works would still be maintained.

It seems as though they simply expect the public to pay up without any managerial reformatting or pledge to fix the museum up internally. Donations seem like they would just be thrown at an organization that will continue to tumble without more help that just money. The people at LA MoCA really need to start thinking more creatively than, as the article says, "Put up or shut up, now or never."

--
Leslie Fay

Broadway Braces for a Squeeze

As the economy continues to suffer, many of the Broadway houses are struggling to sell tickets for the reminder of the season. However the bigger concern should be next year and the following years, according to this New York Times article. Many theatres have already sold tickets and completed much of their fundraising for this fiscal year. The real struggle for ticket sales and earned income will start to show next fall, as organizations begin to raise money for next season.

While some feel the struggling economy will have a negative affect on ticket sales, there are a handful that hope Broadway will get back to focusing on the art. There has always been a struggle between art and money, currently money wins out. Maybe this is a chance foe the balance to lean more towards the art?

--
Tom

Royal Opera – Covent Garden looking into opening Manchester Branch

The Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House revealed in an interview that the organization was looking into opening a branch in Manchester, England. The northern industrial city better known for its football (aka soccer) team, Manchester United, than for classical music would be the first satellite location for the Royal Opera. Although the article mentions that multiple locations for arts organizations is not without precedence, notably the Tate Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Company, I do believe this is a new concept for a major opera company. In an age when companies are choosing to reach new audiences through new media, reaching new audiences through a new physical presence is at once old fashioned and yet also innovative and interesting. I think it's prudent that the Royal Opera is refusing to draw resources away from its established hub in London and rather looking for new funding sources. Although I am very interested how this plays out and how a multiple-location model would work for an opera company, I would hate to see this second location tarnish the quality and reputation of one of the finest opera companies in the world. 

Read the article 

--Erika

CCM Spends $4.1Million to become an "All-Steinway" school

CCM Dean Douglas Knehans has decided to plunk down $4.1 million in order to blanket CCM with brand new Steinway pianos, 165 in all, averaging $25K/per piano.  This is noteworthy not only because it is a staggering sum of money, but aren't we already facing a sizeable deficit, not to mention the current state of the economy?!!!

 

Dean Knehans is quoted as saying, "It sends a deep message about our seriousness and credibility."  That maybe so, but it also raises questions in my mind about how the CCM budget is managed and appropriated.  Speaking from personal experience, other highly respected conservatories and schools of music possess a handful of new grand pianos, and a much larger number of uprights and old grands that have been pounded on for decades.  The nicer pianos are usually reserved for graduate level pianists while the rest are free to be abused by instrumentalists and singers. These new pianos will be great for the freshman tuba player who needs a place upon which to rest a cup of coffee...and probably spill it.

 

The article mentions that this initiative was to go before board on Tuesday.  That could be today, or perhaps it was last week.  The point is, that the order was put in to Steinway & Sons, it was the  LARGEST ORDER IN THEIR HISTORY, and people are reading about it in the NY Times.  If this initiative doesn't pass, all that positive PR that the Dean was trying to create will blow up in his face....not that I think spending $4.1 million on pianos is the best way give CCM positive PR in the first place.

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/steinway-sons-gets-order-for-165-pianos/

 

Nate

L.A Music Center president becomes LA Opera COO

Stephen Rountree, president of the LA Music Center, will now take over as Chief Operating Officer of the LA Opera in addition to his previous job.  Since the spring of 2007, LA Opera board president, Marc I. Stern, has filled in as COO on a voluntary basis.  Due to the economic crisis, Stern, a senior officer at a global financial services company, has been forced to focus his work back to his day job.  

Rountree will now work alongside Artistic Director, Placido Domingo as co-leaders of the company. His past experience as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Getty Trust, combined with his knowledge of the Music Center, where LA Opera resides, will hopefully serve him and the company well.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2008/11/steven-rountree.html

Nate

Wally Beaver goes to the Louvre

We all might be a little too young to remember "Leave it to Beaver", but the characters and legacy are likely well known to us. Wally Beaver, AKA Tony Dow, will make his Louvre debut this December with a bronze statue entitled "Unarmed Warrior". Turns out he is multi-talented.

--
Ashley

CEO for $144K? No thanks.

Okay, couldn't help but post this article about nonprofit executive salaries in San Francisco. The city is considering limiting executive salaries of city-funded NFP's to six times the salary of the organization's lowest-paid employee. I personally think this is absolutely ridiculous...on so many levels!! My frustration with the proposal turned to anger when I started to read the 100+ comments on the article. Most people seem to agree with the proposal.

The Executive Director of the San Francisco Symphony is mentioned in the article. His salary is ~$360K and he runs an organization with an operating budget of ~$55M. An organization, like the Symphony, that employees full-time staff at minimum wage (possibly janitorial staff, etc.) would have to reduce the CEO's salary to $144K. Major nonprofit organizations need to provide competitive compensation packages to attract talented, competent executive management in order to run these sophisticated operations. That is not going to be possible when executive salaries are capped at $144K. Where's the incentive?

One blogger provided interesting perspective, "Why not just hire six janitors to manage the organization?". At least then we'd see a decrease in the unemployment rate, right? You can't compare minimum wage workers with executive directors, so why should their salaries correlate?

~Mark

Ho-ho-holiday fundraisers!

Just watched this video about the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker Market happening this weekend. I must admit, my first thought was, "Ugh, another special event!". Then I watched the video and read a little about the event online. I appreciate the fact that they have been able to tie this to their annual Nutcracker presentation. Also, it certainly seems like something that a ballet's core constituency would appreciate. That said, with over 300 national and international merchants and 65,000 attendees, this must be a huge undertaking. Also, as is typical in the Houston philanthropic marketplace, they leverage the Nutcracker Market with numerous other events including a preview party, kick-off event, Christmas luncheon, brunches, "priority shopping" session, etc., all requiring heavy management utilizing both staff and volunteer resources. It is not uncommon to actually develop senior volunteer committees for all of these separate events. Is this the best use of scarce volunteer resources?

I looked for numbers on funds raised through this initiative, but was unable to find anything (that's perhaps a bad sign). I can tell you that 65,000 attendees come at $10/person, 300 merchants book space with fees starting at $800/table, over $9.1M is spent on goods of which the Ballet collects at 10% commission, and in addition, there are a number of sponsorship opportunities available securing additional revenue. Certainly seems like this could be a profitable venture considering expenses are not outrageous, which they might very well be. Let's assume the Ballet nets $2M from this program of events. Think about the human resources required to pull this off. Is this the best way for an organization to raise this money? Don't get me wrong, the answer might very well be yes. Surely there are innumerable intrinsic benefits to hosting this including increased exposure for the organization, volunteer and patron engagement opportunities, entry points for cultivating corporate sponsors for other Ballet sponsorship properties, etc. I just have to take a moment to think about the resources required to produce these mega-events and how well they actually support our organizations' programs.

I've wrote too much. Let me know what you think. Regardless of whether this is a good use of resources or not, it seems from the video that one can drink wine while perusing the merchant offerings and enjoying lively holiday music. I wish I was in Houston this weekend.

Until,
Mark

Diminishing audiences for the arts? Not according to this article.

This article brings together so many of the issues we discussed in class on Wednesday night; "popular" art vs. art of high artistic quality, integration of electronic media to attract a new generation of arts patrons, etc. Would have liked to have seen a little more exploration, but a pleasant read nonetheless.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1114/p13s01-almp.html

Interesting to note that since 1965, the number of U.S. opera companies has increased from 46 to 129. Also, opera audiences have increased by 45% in the past 20 years.

Enjoy,
Mark

Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups

I just received this link from one of my board members. It appears that if an organization wants to utilize Facebook for social networking, they should implement Facebook Pages as opposed to Facebook Groups.

http://www.thegogglesdonothing.com/archives/2008/01/facebook_groups_vs_pages.shtml

This sparked my interest as we are talking about social networking and Web 2.0. This blog compares Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups. While there can be benefits to both, there is an argument for organizations to implement Facebook Pages.

--
Tom

To Print or Not to Print

While other local papers are downsizing Cincinnati's arts coverage, CityBeat remains committed to providing readers with meaningful commentary on what's happening in Cincinnati's arts communities. This article reiterates that newspapers are downsizing Arts coverage is getting less and less. The reason: "a misguided sense the arts are and elite luxury of interest to only a few."

Read CityBeat Article

While CityBeat remains committed to arts coverage in print they have also turned to printing articles online. Some articles are only available online. They also have a blog, which offers recommendations for what show to see over the weekend. City Beat remains committed to arts coverage as "Cincinnati's News and Entertainment Weekly", however they also realize more and more people are finding information on the Internet and must continue to keep information up-to-date in both places.

I found this article fascinating as it directly related to some of the concepts we have been talking about in this class. As Arts Managers we need to be aware of the changing times and be willing to adapt our practices to be successful in the future. When working at Goodman this summer, part of my job was to clip coverage of the Goodman and its staff from the newspapers. As the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times were beginning to cover the arts less and less, I had to start searching their online sites and blogs. While we know this is happening, it will be interesting to see how we deal with change.


--
Tom

Artistic Director Resigns after backlash from campaign donation

The artistic director, Scott Eckern, of California Musical Theater resigned after some activists called for a boycott of the theatre due to his donation to support California's Proposition 8 banning gay marriage in the state. I actually don't know how I feel about this. Although I don't share the same views as Mr. Eckern, and it is rather surprising to find someone who is against gay marriage in the musical theatre community, I believe Mr. Eckern has a right to his own opinion and political beliefs. He personally made the $1000 contribution as an individual, not as a part of the California Musical Theater. I believe the proposed boycott of the theatre would be an overreaction. I hardly think one individual associated with a musical theatre group is to blame for the passage of Proposition 8, nor that one employee's political stance is indicative of an official position of a whole organization. 

Read article here 

--Erika

Ticketmaster Experiments with dropping "Convenience" Fee

Irving Azoff, manager of acts like the Eagles, Neil Diamond , Guns and Roses, and Christina Aguilera, was named CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment two weeks ago.  One of his first orders of business was to eliminate the convenience fee that had traditionally been part of any ticketmaster transaction.

 

Ticketmaster is now aggressively promoting this new policy with lines like, "This is a no-fee event!  The price you see is the price you pay.  No convenience fee.  No order processing fee...etc."  Whether or not these fees are actually disappearing is uncertain.  It seems likely that they will be lumped into the face price of the ticket while giving the appearance of a discount to customers.  Either way, it displays a reaction on the behalf of Ticketmaster to combat negative consumer sentiment toward these charges.

 

http://www.gnrdaily.com/news_detail.asp?id=1768

 

Nate

Online Arts Trivia

Check out FreeRice.com. Its a website with trivia quizzes devoted to different school subjects. Apparently, for every correct answer they donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. They periodically add new subjects and just came out with an arts section. Right now they only have a famous paintings quiz in the arts section but is really fun and kind of tough. I've only made it to level 6 so far. So check it out, but I'm warning you - its addictive! 
--
Ashley

Family wants cash after burning relative's art

Until his death in 1963, Martin Ramirez spent most of his life locked away in a California State Hospital diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Deemed catatonic, Ramirez created countless paintings in an effort to communicate with the outside world. Yet, few people recognized his talent and most of his pieces were given away in the ward or even burned after being sent as gifts to his family. The story would end there except that the New York Times called Ramirez "simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century". So now, Ramirez's family is arguing that he wasn't mentally fit to give away the now valuable pieces. The real kicker is the fact that research now suggests that Ramirez, as a poor Mexican immigrant to the U.S., might not have been catatonic at all, but simply unable to communicate in English.
--
Ashley

Play...Right?

Quick, name a famously left-wing playwright.  That didn't take long, did it?  Now name a moderately prominent conservative playwright.

Have you thought of one yet?

How about now?

Good luck.  This week, Terry Teachout writes for the Wall Street Journal on the prevailing ideological slant of nearly all the "political" or "opinionated" theater being produced in the US and Britain- liberal, liberal, liberal.  He's not deriding the politics of any of these writers, directors, or producers, however- his main concern is to figure out who's stifling all those creative conservative voices of the stage out there.  Well, it turns out that it's no one. 
The general consensus from artistic directors and producers is that conservatives simply don't write plays about being conservative the way liberals write plays about being liberal.  Teachout's critique of these "liberal for the sake of liberal" plays aside (I happen to think Caryl Churchill's Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? was masterful, and I'm no fan of preachiness in entertainment), he ends with a call for less self-identification and knee-jerk political labeling.  This quote from Chekov is worth repeating:  "Anyone who says the artist's field is all answers and no questions has never done any writing. . . . It is the duty of the court to formulate the questions correctly, but it is up to each member of the jury to answer them according to his own preference."

-Dana Horst

City Opera's Announced Artistic and General Director resigns

Gerard Mortier, City Opera's named Artistic and General Director was supposed to take over full duties in the 2009-2010 season, but today his resignation was announced. This news actually does not surprise me much. City Opera has been having major financial problems, and this season includes no fully staged operas. Also, Mortier made a last minute bid to co-run the Bayreuth Festival in Bavaria this past summer. His ambitions seem to have outgrown the downtrodden second opera company in New York. 

Read NYTimes article 

--Erika

Innovative interactive video projections at the Met

An innovative new production of Damnation de Faust at the Metropolitan Opera is using sound and motion capture technology so the singers can interact with the computer projections. In a NYTimes article, General Manager Peter Gelb referred to the effect as similar to a "hallucination." Although this cutting edge technology has been used for some performance arts such as Cirque de Soleil, it is new to the Met's stage. Although many productions use projections, the interactive technology turn projections into a live art. Because the projections are based on the singing and movement of the performers, no two performances will be alike. Wether audiences find these projections distracting or enlightening has yet to be seen, but one thing is certain, innovation is the name of the game at the Met.

Read NYTimes article 

--Erika

Royal Opera House Naked Calendar

Thought this was a gen you shouldn't miss: The Royal Opera House is selling a nude calendar this year, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. The calendar includes a variety of Opera House faces, from the ballet shoe mistress, to a ballet dancer, to the harpist, to a group a male dancers from Carmen. It seems like fun and the pics are beautiful!

The real question is: how long can nude charity calendars keep making money? That Calendar Girls movie was about the first set of women to pull off this idea (in 1999!) and the trend is still running 9 years later. Everyone loves a nude calendar, I guess, but where is the line for an organization? Does it compromise anything in regards to the organization? Does it alienate conservative audiences? I don't know! But I'm sure this one will sell out for sure!

--
Leslie Fay

Met Player allows web streaming of operas

As we discussed in class, many companies are posting audio and video content on their websites. The Metropolitan Opera has taken this concept and ran: it now offers the Met Player which has 170 complete opera performances, 50 video and 120 audio. As the Met Simulcasts continue, this catalogue will grow. Of course this service is not free, you can either rent an opera for $3.99 to $4.99 or subscribe to the service at a price of $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year. Obviously the Met is keen to find new revenue streams from new media. I would be very interested to see what the subscription numbers and renewal rates are like after the initial novelty of this service wears off. Personally, I don't see much appeal of trying to watch all 4 hours and 10 minutes of Les Troyens from my laptop. Then again, I used to be skeptical about the appeal of the Met Simulcasts, which are hugely popular and I love, so what do I know?

See related NYTimes article 

Go to the Met Player 

--Erika

FCC Plans and How They Could Hurt the Performing Arts

Though this article is a little bit old, the FCC already voted 4 to 1 to open television's unused channels, or "white spaces," to broadband and wireless signals, it is an interesting assessment of how much this really could affect the performing arts. This article on wireless microphones on Broadway talks about how increased traffic on these white spaces, which are currently being used for wireless microphone among other things, can severely hinder the sound systems' quality.

As much as I want to say, "YAY! Broadband for everyone, including those in rural areas that are more easily reached through television signal because of the incredible costs associated with laying down broadband lines across the country," this offers a very interesting perspective on the issue. Shows as they are now would be a complete disaster if their wireless microphone systems failed, causing fewer audiences on Broadway then there are currently, as evidenced in a New York Times article posted on this blog earlier in the week. And not only Broadway, but anyone using wireless microphones around the country could start having difficulties. The most interesting part of the article is that the technology to limit this interferance exists, but only works 65% of the time!!!!

It will be intriguing to see hwo this plays out in February, when the white spaces are set to open up.

--
Leslie Fay

Feeling Low on Cash?

Got and old Rothko or Pollock hanging around the house? Don't we all wish? Well if you did, that piece could be the key to your financial stability. Turns out that Sotheby's is getting more and more requests for consignment lending where customers barrow against the famous works of art they own. So dust off that million dollar masterpiece and decide whether time are tough enough to take a cash advance on priceless items.
--
Ashley

Increased Funding for the NEA

Many of you may have already seen this, but for those that haven't, this is the two-page document published by the Obama camp on his stance on arts funding.

 

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/additional/Obama_FactSheet_Arts.pdf

 

It's referenced in the London Times article that Ashley posted yesterday!

 

Let's look to increased NEA funding in the coming years.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Broadway struggles to fill seats

The New York Times ran an article today about how the economy is affecting the shows on Broadway. Many shows are barely getting audiences over 50%. While straight plays struggle with getting audiences, the economy is taking its toll on musicals as well. Many shows are announcing their closing dates.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/theater/05bway.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

I found this article especially interesting, as the economy was the major concern in the exit polls of last nights election. As we embark on our journey of finding work, we need to keep abreast of how the economy is affecting earned income..

--
Tom

Center Theatre Group offers 100,000 tickets for $20

The artistic director and communications director of the Center Theatre Group in Los Angles are making in effort to keep the middle-class theatre audience engaged through the tough economic times.  Through the companies 3 theatres, they are issuing 100,000 discount tickets at a reduced price of $20.  Normally, they would only issue about 30,000.

 

They have dubbed it an "Entertainment Stimulus Package", and they are hoping to appeal to habitual buyers of mid-priced tickets.  For the company, it also seems to be a smart PR move.

 

Nate

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2008/10/ctg-tickets.html

 

$54m for the arts? Well, maybe.

Today, Minnesotans are voting on a proposed amendment to their state constitution that would, through a .375% increase in state sales tax, provide an additional revenue of approximately $274 million to the state per year for "natural resources and the arts". An estimated $54 million of this revenue (or just under 20%) would be earmarked for the arts in Minnesota each year.
Bundling this increased arts funding with a funding increase for state parks and conservation has caused a few raised eyebrows, but it's been largely defined as a "cultural heritage funding" proposal, which brings hunters and choreographers together in one package.  People that find it hard to see an extra .375% added to their sales tax (and MN does have a rather high sales tax, especially in Hennepin County) for arts funding may be motivated to find that extra three-eighths of one percent to help fund wildlife conservation efforts and support of the outdoor activities they love.  This isn't framed as a permanent increase (it's slated to run from 2009-2034, if it passes), and $54 million spread across the entire state arts budget allocation isn't going to mean huge changes to any one organization's budget.  Still... for a small organization with an annual budget in the $1 million range, imagine what an extra $200,000 might mean. 
That extra seven cents tacked onto my purchase of a $9.99 dvd seems manageable to me- but will a majority of Minnesotans agree?

-Dana Horst

Get Your Arty Vote On

Hopefully we are all enjoying this November 4th by exercising our right to vote. So when you're headed out remember to ask yourself what this election means for our local arts organizations. The London Times addressed the possible funding implications of today's results and discussed both canidates' views on the arts. Plus, they point out some pretty snarky quotes about our current president that are sure to top off your results viewing parties.

 

-Ashley