Down to Business: Arts funding stream still a dream in the Capital Region Thursday, April 7, 2011 By Marlene Kennedy
Philip Morris hasn’t put his finger on it yet, but he’s certain there must be a way to guarantee a recurring revenue stream for arts and cultural organizations in the Capital Region.
“I don’t think begging people more is going to fix this,” Morris, CEO of Proctors in Schenectady, told a March breakfast forum at which the topic was entrepreneurship and the arts.
That the “culturals,” as he calls them, are on shaky footing is apparent. Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany’s professional theatre group, was close to faltering before it outsourced administrative functions — ticketing, marketing, development — to Proctors earlier this year to save some $200,000 annually. Meantime, at organizations like the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Institute of History & Art, annual expenses outpace revenue on a regular basis.
The problem isn’t unique to the Capital Region. Last week, for instance, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra announced it was suspending operations — in the midst of its 50th anniversary season — and on Sunday laid off 75 core and contract musicians and most of its staff.
But professionals involved in helping businesses decide where to locate or expand will tell you that it’s the communities flush with theatre, music and museums that get extra points in their evaluations. So stress among the culturals can reverberate far beyond the individual institutions.
That’s a concern for businessmen like Steve Lobel, a serial entrepreneur, vice president at Anchor Agency Inc. in Albany and chairman of the board at the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He worries that the bright future he sees for the region — “we are on the cusp of unique opportunity for unprecedented economic growth and prosperity” — won’t be shared by the arts.
“The vibrancy of our cultural infrastructure is a key element in our region’s ability to attract and retain the high-quality employees that emerging businesses require for growth,” he says. “Without a thriving and dynamic arts and culture community, the quality of life we all value and aspire to would be greatly diminished.”
But how do you fund the arts beyond begging more? Morris says he has played with ideas like a ticket surcharge to create a shared pool of money or a United Way-like campaign to underwrite the organizations.
In both St. Louis and Denver, a so-called cultural tax district was established decades ago that collects money for the arts based on an additional property tax levy (St. Louis: up to 12 cents per $100 in assessed valuation) or sales tax (Denver: 1 cent for every $10 spent). According to a study last fall by the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies, the districts have been successful in helping to establish world-class arts programs, although changes in their revenue formulas might now be warranted.
Complicating the picture here, says Morris, is our “inside out” geography: While most metro areas have a dominant city at the center — with which the culturals are easily identified — we have four mid-sized cities ringing a suburban core. Each city — Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy — has its own inventory of arts groups, among which the suburbs split their allegiance. Regional cooperation — let alone taxing authority — is therefore difficult.
Morris, who said this week he wasn’t surprised to see the Syracuse symphony suspend its season, believes the culturals have to work hard to maintain their relevance in the community. But they deserve better than the frequent tension over funding between institutions (“give more”) and donors (“we’ve given enough”).
“The most powerful thing that could happen [here] is a regional funding stream,” he says.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Morris says he has played with ideas like a ticket surcharge to create a shared pool of money or a United Way-like campaign to underwrite the organizations.
ahhhh............the new and improved version of the metroplex!!! A ticket surcharge????? WTF????
What's he gonna do....have the taxpayers subsidize even MORE to shoulder the burden of all of nys's artsey fartsey programs?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Complicating the picture here, says Morris, is our “inside out” geography: While most metro areas have a dominant city at the center — with which the culturals are easily identified — we have four mid-sized cities ringing a suburban core. Each city — Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy — has its own inventory of arts groups, among which the suburbs split their allegiance. Regional cooperation — let alone taxing authority — is therefore difficult.
I get a kick out of Morris. He is crying the blues but he keeps expanding.
This man knows nothing about math.
How can he keep buying up properties, starting new businesses, taking on failing ones from Albany, if he knows damn well there is not enough money to cover all his delusional plans?
Damn it,the heck with the fancy arts. I am getting very concerned about the cost of things going up, up, up and my income isn't. I don't need an entertainment tax.
Damn it, the heck with the fancy arts. People thousands of them are losing their jobs, their homes due to taxes!!!, can't afford to pay for their medicines and put food on the table and this AH is so concerned about the arts. What a jerk.
maybe the orchestras would like to march into Libya and win them over....or how about making music that runs cars......I'm not making fun,,,I love the arts....but really......priorities
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
ahhhh............the new and improved version of the metroplex!!! A ticket surcharge????? WTF????
What's he gonna do....have the taxpayers subsidize even MORE to shoulder the burden of all of nys's artsey fartsey programs?
Only Schenectady County would tolerate this bloated super ego. He is all about grabbing businesses off the tax rolls and sticking his beek into SACC-TV, the coffeehouse, the catering hall and Capital Rep. Everything he does loses money and then he runs to government with his tin cup.
The fact that he refused to pay Mayor Stratton a penny towards any PILOT says it all. Hooray for me-screw you. BTW the Lion King was such a huge economic engine that the Parker Inn right next door has gone belly up. As governments finally cut the artsey fartsey fraud the one legged stool of Savage's Downtown will collapse. There's no there their and $100 MILLION of County taxpayer dollars has not put any there their. Metrograft must be abolished and Proctor's must stand on it's own two feet.
Logged
Only Schenectady County would tolerate this bloated super ego. He is all about grabbing businesses off the tax rolls and sticking his beek into SACC-TV, the coffeehouse, the catering hall and Capital Rep. Everything he does loses money and then he runs to government with his tin cup. 
