ArtsCapital|Atlanta: $100 million needed to stabilize regional arts groups
The Atlanta arts community can relate to the phoenix rising from the ashes as its symbol — just like our namesake city.
Over the last couple of years, the arts community has had two key events to drive home that theme.
On March 7, 2023, the Atlanta Lyric Theatre abruptly announced it was closing its doors after 42 years in existence — sending a letter to patrons and donors. For Atlanta arts organizations and funders, that letter was a wake-up call. How many other arts and cultural organizations were teetering on the brink of death?
The second alarm bell occurred last fall when Atlanta failed to make it into the final round of three finalists to attract the Sundance Film Festival — a plum for whichever city will ultimately be selected to host the cultural extravaganza that has helped catapult the independent film industry.
A new, broad-based coalition of arts leaders and funders has been formed to respond to the challenge — ArtsCapital|Atlanta.
“The trigger for me was when the Atlanta Lyric Theatre closed abruptly one morning in March 2023,” said Rob Smulian, executive director of the Imlay Foundation. “When they closed, it also shocked the arts community. They got together, 35 signers, sent the same letter to their donors and patrons.”
Several arts leaders saw the Lyric Theatre closing as an ominous sign. Already, arts organizations have been meeting to try to figure out how to survive in a post-COVID environment when patrons and funders have been slow to return to their pre-pandemic levels.
“The letter was a significant milepost,” said Atiba Mbiwan, executive director of the Zeist Foundation, who immediately connected with Smulian when they both received a copy.
The seeds for survival had been planted.
Laura Hennighausen, director of strategic philanthropy for Purpose Possible, a firm that consults with nonprofits, took it upon herself to start collecting data from arts organizations and to convene regional cultural leaders in a call-to-action.
An executive steering group of 22 nonprofits has been meeting weekly to discuss potential action plans, while a much larger group of stakeholders meets once a month.
“We did a survey, and we found that 80 percent of the organizations had less than two months of operating reserves,” said Henninghausen, who volunteered her time for the first year to work with arts groups in the 11-county region.
Smulian and Mbiwan were impressed by the work Henninghausen had done. They, along with Amanda Jacquez of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, agreed to pool resources to pay Henninghausen for the work she was doing for ArtsCapital|Atlanta.
“A lot of these funders didn’t realize how bad it was,” Henninghausen said. “We have come up with a plan for a comprehensive campaign that would be the first of its kind. We would adopt a funding model where the smallest nonprofits would be able to get the largest percentage of funds.”
Several arts leaders and funders said in interviews the needs are substantial. ArtsCapital|Atlanta estimates it would take about $100 million, in an infusion of new dollars, to stabilize existing arts organizations.
“We need to make it a transformational number,” said Chris Escobar, executive director of the Atlanta Film Festival, who was a key player in the effort to bring Sundance to Georgia.
The funders interviewed agreed. Metro Atlanta and Georgia philanthropic organizations have the capacity to raise those dollars, but it’s uncertain whether the will is there, Mbiwan said.
“What’s needed is a community effort that stabilizes and ultimately sustains the arts and cultural sector,” Smulian said. “The seed of this came out of metro Atlanta arts groups. The arts groups built the table, and we joined it.”
Henninghausen described it as a grassroots initiative led by arts and cultural organizations.
“The stakes are higher for the people involved,” said Tom West, executive director of the Atlanta Ballet. “No one is coming to save the arts. We have to do it ourselves. We have to build a bigger coalition.”
A lack of funding for arts in metro Atlanta and Georgia is not a new issue.
For decades, there have been various attempts to develop revenue sources to support the arts. The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has had the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund, which used to receive significant corporate support, has been less robust than it used to be.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber also had launched the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Council to create greater support among regional leaders, but eventually those efforts were transferred to the Atlanta Regional Commission. Eventually, the arts seemed to become less of a priority.
ArtsCapital|Atlanta is hoping existing arts leaders will be able to generate the excitement and energy needed to secure funding for the region’s extensive cultural sector.
“We are trying to address two problems,” West said. “First is short-term stability. Many arts organizations used their reserves during the pandemic and haven’t been able to replenish them. The second part is building a culture of philanthropy for the arts once we get through this stabilization moment.”
It can feel like a daunting task. Consider that Georgia is tied for dead last [with Wisconsin] in per-capita funding for the arts. Also, West described local public funding for the arts as “anemic” when compared to other cities and regions in the country.
“Many of the leaders have been heroic in keeping their arts organizations afloat against almost insurmountable odds,” West said.
To make the situation worse, several top local corporate funders for the arts have been acquired — Mailchimp, Spanx and Turner Broadcasting System — drying up those sources of revenue.
Mack Headrick, managing director of 7 Stages, said it was painful when those funders left because “there was not enough funding for the arts when they were there.”
Escobar said the Atlanta region should develop both near- and long-term solutions so “we don’t need emergency funding” in the future.
In addition to an extensive arts philanthropic campaign, the state, the region and localities should explore adopting dedicated cultural funding as have other communities across the country.
Among options implemented in other areas include hotel-motel taxes, car-rental taxes, a restaurant tax, a by-the-drink alcohol tax or even a fractional sales tax. Some communities have combined the arts with parks and greenspace when asking voters to support a dedicated sales tax.
“We have zero dedicated funding at any level for arts and culture,” Escobar said. “So arts funding is at the whims of the people who control the general fund.”
ArtsCapital|Atlanta is positioned to be the entity that can bring the various arts organizations together. Unlike affordable housing advocate – HouseATL, a similar group doesn’t exist for the arts.
“The arts don’t have a convenor or an advocacy arm in the metro area,” Henninghausen said. “Our mission, our sole purpose, is to advance the arts eco-system throughout the 11-county region.”
Leslie Gordon, executive director of “The Breman,” said ArtsCapital|Atlanta already has helped bring together the stakeholders and put a structure in place.
“For a marketplace that calls itself the arts and culture capital of the South, there’s little public or private support to back that up,” West said.
So much of the state’s creative economy is dependent on having a robust arts and culture community. For example, the film industry relies on theaters and the artistic community to provide actors and production professionals for their projects in Georgia.
It’s not about pitting smaller arts groups against bigger arts organizations, said Chris Moses, artistic director of the Alliance Theatre, which is part of the Woodruff Arts Center, the second largest arts campus in the nation.
“The idea is that a rising tide will lift all boats,” Moses said. “There’s such a strong arts and cultural sector here, but it’s been woefully under-supported. It’s all about building an eco-system where large, medium and small arts organizations can thrive.”