Kennedy Center's Michael Kaiser hit the road for 50-state 'Arts in Crisis' tour

In this downturn arts groups have faced multiple hits: local and state government budgets were reduced or zeroed out; foundations and individual giving were affected by the stock market troubles; and patrons cut back on discretionary spending, including tickets to shows.

One of Kaiser's suggested strategies was to apply for challenge grants from an established funder and then use those grants as leverage among smaller donors. The idea was to display confidence and to convey the idea that the organization was halfway to its goal.

Kaiser said he was discouraged by two trends he found. In programs across the country, he said, well-known and reliable material was offered again and again. "There is a lot of repetition, programs that are safe," he said. "And a lot of [suggestions] are coming from the boards. I always ask what is the performance that excited you the most. Few of them say 'Cats.' Instead it was an amazing dance from a small dance company." In the arts, he added, "our job is to lead, not follow. Our job is to be adventurous."

And he was alarmed that many arts managers and board members had little training, for example, in how to plan a season with a theme and audience appeal or develop a fundraising strategy.

Further, some problems were simply beyond Kaiser's ability to help, such as the troubles of the 110-year-old Honolulu Symphony. "They had just legally filed for bankruptcy," said Kaiser, who had a session in Hawaii in December. The orchestra canceled half its season and reorganized under Chapter 11. Its discussions with its musicians are still at an impasse.

"You can't walk into an hour-and-a-half public session and solve deep problems," Kaiser said. "Maybe four people out of 11,000 said they were close to closing the doors. Many more said they were cutting and they were fearful and didn't know which risks to take."

Bob Hupp, the producing artistic director of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, had some concerns before the Kaiser visit. "This is not a one-size-fits-all problem, and we don't want one-size-fits-all solutions," he said. "We have an urban arts scene and a rural arts scene."

Onstage at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, Hupp interviewed Kaiser for the first portion of the forum, in front of 150 people. Hupp liked what he heard. "His message was 'don't back off, don't retreat.' He talked about partnerships among the nonprofits," Hupp said.

A coalition inspired

Just having the meeting with the different arts groups and supporters inspired a new coalition for the arts in the Little Rock area, he said. Now that coalition is talking about signing up for the Kennedy Center's arts education initiative, a targeted program for strapped school districts that provides lesson plans and artist visits.

Tim Dang, the producing artistic director of the East West Players in Los Angeles, agreed that having arts interests get together was a benefit. Dang said his company is following up with a board retreat: "We want to discuss the question of how much participation can the board have in artistic presentations. And then with fundraising, how do you convince donors that the arts are just as worthwhile as persistent issues such as homelessness and health care. Mr. Kaiser was trying to impress upon us that board members might know 100 people who can give $100, and that helps with the season."

In Burlington, Vt., John R. Killacky, executive director of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, said he was heartened by the call to create new programming. "We have the eighth blackbird, a musical group, doing a project with us and then working with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. We have also commissioned a work by Jennifer Higdon. So we have a new work by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer with a contemporary music group and our symphony orchestra. We were emboldened by Kaiser."

Another case study of partnership used by Kaiser was the joint programs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Hubbard Street Dance Company. They perform together for one week, with Hubbard thus able to present more programs and the CSO getting some new faces in its audience.