Arts and culture economically screwed by pandemic closures

Just like other "consumer facing" sectors, the arts and culture sector is being crushed by the closure of facilities.

Seattle.  Photo: Jason Raymond, Reuters.

There is tons of coverage (in the US and elsewhere) on the closing of museums and other cultural facilities, employee layoffs and pay cuts for those who remain, cancellation of events, exhibits, and seasons (like for symphonies), concerts, television and film production, cinemas, etc. ("Museums Across the US Are Furloughing and Laying Off Workers—But Hopeful They’ll Get Help From the Federal Government," Artnet; "At least 170,000 lose jobs as film industry grinds to a halt due to coronavirus," Guardian).

For profit cinema chains face bankruptcy.  Etc.

And coverage about how individual artists often cobble together a living from multiple gigs, all of which have disappeared ("She Had 3 Jobs to Support Her Music. Now All Are Gone," New York Times), and it doesn't place them well to get income support from various government programs that may offer help to businesses generally and large firms specifically.  Although some arts organizations are organizing grant initiatives both nationally ("National arts groups establish $10 million fund to provide $5,000 emergency relief grants to artists needing help during pandemic," Cleveland Plain Dealer) and locally.

Some stories I found particularly interesting include:

-- "Meow Wolf, the Art Collective That Became a Multimillion-Dollar Symbol of the Booming Experience Economy, Just Laid Off More Than Half Its Staff," Artnet. 

One of the "culture experiences" that the Meow Wolf Collective had planned to open was slated for DC.  It appears that plans for facilities in Las Vegas and Denver are still on the table.  Not DC or Phoenix.

-- "Arts were ‘the catalyst’ for economic renewal in the Berkshires. What now with a summer of closures and cancellations?," Boston Globe.

Western Massachusetts had a significant manufacturing-based economy at one time especially around textiles and industrial products.

By the end of the 1980s, most of those firms shut down, either to relocate elsewhere in the US or in other countries, or to close altogether. That area has been a textbook example of how to leverage the arts and culture as economic development in the post-industrial economy.  The documentary "Downside UP" discusses the program developed in Western Mass.

(I didn't know until a couple years ago, that Thomas Krens, who went on to expand the Guggenheim Museum across the globe, was one of the key visionaries there.)

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is an adaptive reuse of the Sprague Electric complex.  (Frank Sprague developed the electric streetcar; but he eventually was forced to sell out to Edison.)

Now it's under threat. The article states that 70% of the income for MassMOCA in North Adams comes from ticket sales and related revenues. And like most museums outside of the majors, it has a minimal endowment.

But given the centrality of the culture-based economy, the economic privation will go far beyond the museums, to hotels, restaurants, and other service businesses. In turn, the reduction in sales tax revenues threatens local government budgets. Etc.

-- "After the crisis – a new model for the arts?," Arts Professional (UK).

The article suggests more marketing initiatives and "wringing out more value from assets" will be key. That's true.

But the likelihood of it being enough is remote (see the discussion about arts organizations and revenue here: "What would be a "Transformational Projects Action Plan" for DC's cultural ecosystem" and "A comprehensive list of funding sources for arts and culture"). In part this comes down to philosophies around the market/neoliberalism and public goods and how to fund them.

In any case, a handful of arts institutions are able to generate a fair amount of income from space rentals, real estate development, and other activities, but overall, it's pretty rare and the average arts organization tends to not possess that kind of skill set.

For example, MassMOCA has been incredibly successful, with annual attendance rising to about 300,000, which is far greater than the average cultural facility.  And yet, they face big problems.

But even so it hasn't been able to generate "excess revenues" to create an endowment.