January 2008 Field Letter
Written on January 2, 2008
Dear Friends,
Great New Year’s News re: NEA
December’s end brought with it some exciting news for the arts field. The federal omnibus budget bill, passed by Congress and signed by the President, includes a $20.1 million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts. This is the single largest dollar increase for the agency since 1979. The increase will most likely be divided to include the federally mandated portion for the states, NEA leadership initiatives and increased grants to organizations. Big thanks to Chairman Gioia, who has worked tirelessly these past many years to tell the story of arts’ impact across the nation and to restore and strengthen the image of the NEA. Thanks also goes to the American Arts Alliance, an advocacy association, that along with TCG includes the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, the League of American Orchestras, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and OPERA America. AAA has been working steadily over the years to be a voice at the federal level for the arts and to keep the public informed about policy developments that affect the arts. It is essential to note that your responses to AAA Action Alerts, your correspondence with legislators and your presence at Arts Advocacy Day have helped fuel the NEA’s ability to accomplish this feat. Let’s continue the momentum going forward. Mark your calendars for April 1 for Arts Advocacy Day 2008 in Washington, D.C. And keep your eyes peeled for Action Alerts that come your way in the ensuing months.
In other related news: the NEA announced in December that it would end the Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights (TRPP), which has been administered by TCG since 1997. During the ten year life of this program, 94 playwrights formed partnerships with theatres across the country. A new NEA program, offering play development and production funds, will be administered by Arena Stage. We are sorry to see this program go, but hope that it will generate great new work in its next incarnation.
Special Funding for TCG Grants and TCG
TCG will soon issue guidelines for the Metlife/TCG Aha! Program: Think It, Do It grants. Numerous theatres have communicated to us that they have identified challenges in need of innovative solutions but they don’t have the time, “think space” or start-up capital in order to experiment effectively in identifying new solutions. Thanks to the Metlife Foundation, TCG is launching a program this year that will provide grants of up to $25,000 for reflecting on and exploring new ideas and up to $50,000 to help test ideas. TCG will document and disseminate results from these grants so that others can learn from them as well. More information will be posted on TCG’s website in February. Thank you, Metlife Foundation!
In addition, we are honored and thrilled to have been awarded $1.4 million over four years from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. In a far-reaching program designed to strengthen national arts service organizations, Duke has made available both general operating support and cash reserve funds through a competitive process. We are tremendously grateful to Cheryl Ikemiya, program officer for the arts, and the panel. (Noted for the record: Ben Cameron, former TCG executive director and current program director for the arts at Duke, recused himself from all grant discussions related to TCG). Thank you, Duke!
We Are Not Alone: Movies and Music—Year End Sales Reports
When Theatre Facts 2006 was released this summer, the data showed an 8% drop in attendance over 5 years, but with a 1% up-tick between 2005 and 2006. It’s been noted in the past that a good portion of the decline ties to the reduced number of TCG theatre productions on tour (and corresponding attendees), as well as fallout from the early 2001 economic downturn, further aggravated by 9/11 with its impacts stretching on for years.
The 2007 year-end attendance numbers for movies was reported in the New York Times on January 2, and in other papers and blogs in December. While overall sales were up 4% and the industry reported a record high for box office receipts, attendance was flat. Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape and current blogger at blog.pmarca.com, provides some interesting reactions to the movie industry’s numbers, noting that revenue numbers have not been adjusted for inflation or the aggregate rise in ticket prices of 4.6%—thus the flat attendance, which is also down overall by 12% since 2002. And Variety reported on a 21% decrease in CD sales from the 2006 to 2007 holiday seasons.
It’s always interesting to listen in on conversations about what might be influencing the results. With movies, the New York Times observed that the “escapist” films fared well but those having to do with current affairs, e.g.: Iraq, terrorism, etc., struggled. And the studios made many in the latter genre. At Variety.com, a blog debate on CD sales credits the decline to bad music, as well as downloads and other ways of accessing songs that relieve the consumer from buying an entire CD—when they only really want one or two of the songs. In other words, CD sales are down because a new format is taking over. In theatre, when discussing an unpredictable audience picture, we talk about competition for leisure time, the trend toward collaborative online creation and the absence of arts education in the schools as influencers. With respect to the idea of new formats taking over from the old—and for theatre, that was supposed to be radio and then film and then TV—why did theatre keep on growing? Hmmm…clearly, we are not alone in wrestling with this issue.
Thank You, Visitors
We were delighted to host Donald King and Megan Sandberg-Zakian of the Providence Black Repertory Company, who visited our offices in December. We heard about the community leaders who enabled the theatre to grow and flourish, the innovative ways that the organization is programming its space (including a bar/café that hosts performances on a nightly basis), its education programs, its connections to the community and the way that it has merged its show program magazine, Black Notes and Black Notes Blog to provide in-depth background information on plays and issues and to generate community dialogue.
New Orleans Leadership Seminar and National Performing Arts Convention
Two important events are coming up! The leadership seminar, Dual Leadership: Partnering From the Inside Out, for artistic and managing directors takes place in New Orleans February 24-26. We have an excellent two day curriculum, as well as time to explore the great city of New Orleans. The deadline is Monday, January 7. Contact Chris Shuff for more information. And finally, the Performing Arts Convention registration goes live on January 11. Check our website for more information!
Until next month, all my best,
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director