Since pandemic, Louisville arts orgs have made tough choices to keep doors open, preserve the arts

Two core truths about the arts:

Art is what makes us human. Performing arts need audiences.

Art makes living more than a series of survival moves. But it’s also precious because it’s fragile. The past four years taught us that habits, once changed, are hard to adjust.

Every arts organization in Louisville faced challenges emerging from the pandemic around sluggish donations from corporations, foundations, the government and individuals. Some community arts groups never came back after closures. Many shrank and have not grown back.

This is not unique to Louisville. From Houston to Minneapolis, and New York to L.A., theaters have shut their doors or slashed programming in an effort to overcome lost revenue.

More: Art can be Louisville's unifying catalyst

As organizations serving kids and families, we faced additional challenges:

• Bus driver, teacher, and substitute shortages impacted schools’ ability to take field trips and engage with outside programming.

• Shows and classes face challenges to return to pre-pandemic levels—particularly while families face continued inflation.

• Students don’t have access to arts in schools at the level they did formerly.

• Staggered start times and transportation challenges made it even harder for families to commit to after-school programs—even when they are eager to do so.

Many of these challenges are outside of our control and involve complex problems. But there are always choices within the control of arts leaders. They often come down to making purpose-driven business decisions.

Former Actors Theatre Executive Director Alexander Speer was exemplary of this. Following a recession in the 1980s, Sandy Speer guided a series of moves many considered risky or even unpalatable. Expanding the Actors Theatre complex of theaters to also include a parking garage provided consistent, incremental income and a wide-range of programming for decades.

The arts were suffering even before the pandemic

The pandemic had a huge impact, but arts audiences were already declining for decades. When faced with continued pressures on earned revenue (typically ticket sales) and contributed revenue (donations), arts organizations had to make choices about how to adjust.

A prescient 2001 RAND Group study about arts audiences explained it this way:

• Diversify participation by attracting different kinds of people than they already attract.

• Broaden participation by attracting more people.

• Deepen participation by increasing their current participants’ levels of involvement. (A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts, Kevin F. McCarthy & Kimberly Jinnett, pp 31-32)

The right choice varies because organizational strengths vary. It’s a decision we are familiar with, because we have been exploring it for nearly a year. Mission-driven programming cannot survive unless the business model is sustainable.

The broader Louisville arts ecosystem depends on a strong foundation of youth audiences and arts education programs. StageOne Family Theatre and Commonwealth Theatre Center have been offering that for a combined 125 years. We’ve made the business decision to combine as one diversified organization allowing us to provide theatre for everyone.

We feel like the very future of Louisville arts audiences is our responsibility, and we take it very seriously. If we succeed, the Louisville arts ecosystem succeeds.

Cathy Colliver, M.B.A., is the board president of Stage One Family Theatre. She loves simplifying challenges and her marketing career spans multiple industries, including 12 years in theatre. She volunteers in arts and education, and previously served on the Courier Journal Editorial Board.

Elizabeth Zimmerman, Ph.D., is the board president of Commonwealth Theatre Center. She is a partner at Willow Ridge Global, a management consulting firm. She focuses on strategy and strategy execution for private and nonprofit clients. She and her family live in the Cherokee Triangle.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville arts orgs are making hard business decisions to stay afloat