The loss of $345,000 in federal funding to North Texas arts groups was a gut punch. But it’s not a fatal blow.

That was the consensus Thursday night when arts leaders and artists gathered for one of the first public discussions since the National Endowment for the Arts rescinded grants to several area groups.

“No one here has ever looked at the NEA as the answer,” said Will Evans of Deep Vellum, which lost a $20,000 grant.

“So it’s up to us, and if something like this happens, you can go to the community and say, ‘This is what you’re being deprived of,’ right? ‘This is why it matters, and here’s a value proposition. Are you in?”

Evans was one of six panelists who took to the stage at Bishop Arts Theatre Center Thursday to discuss the state of the arts in North Texas.

Things arts organizations can do: 

• Gather with other arts organizations to discuss issues and ways to work together
• Let go of old rivalries between competitors
• Survey the audience and make changes based on their feedback
• Don’t leave any open seats at performances
• Brick-and-mortar buildings are a blessing. Use them.
• Cross promote with other arts organizations. 
• Remind audiences of the value proposition they’re supporting.
• Reach out to residents in Dallas and surrounding cities.

Relying on grants or donations, from any source, always has an element of vulnerability, said J. Damany Daniel of The Event Nerd.

“If your entire model depends on someone else choosing you, that’s not a business. That is a gamble.”

But ticketing cannot be the only form of revenue that performing arts groups rely on either, said Stormi Demerson, an actor and arts advocate.

“It is an amazing gift if you have a brick and mortar, and if you have a brick-and-mortar, use your brick-and-mortar,” she said.

“Most theaters are dark on Mondays. Every single day that you are dark, something else should be going on. … That’s a day that you can bring in some revenue. Have a poetry reading. Have a jazz night…. Have yoga, but have something.”

Demerson said she doesn’t believe in leaving any empty seats on an opening night. Rather than letting seats go unfilled, she encouraged theaters to give away unused tickets. If that person who received the ticket enjoyed the show, they are likely to post about it or tell a friend, which will pay dividends.

To fill those seats the community needs to know what’s going on, both in Dallas and the surrounding communities, said Kymberlaine Banks, who serves on the Bishop Arts Theatre Center board.

“No audience in any Dallas art is all from the city of Dallas,” she explained.

Understanding who is in the audience requires data, which is something arts organizations should lean into, added moderator Feleceia Wilson.  

“Some of y’all are afraid to look at the data. You won’t survey people, you won’t ask them questions, and then you won’t decide what to do with the things that you’ve learned,” Wilson, the founder of Zoe Communications, said.

“So from your strategist friend, she’s telling you to survey the people and then read the data and then decide to do something about the thing that you learned.”

When all else fails, it’s important to stay true to your organization’s founding principles, Banks said

“Don’t back off of what you believe made your work meaningful. It is, it was, and it will continue to be,” she said.

“It may be challenging for a minute, but do not try to change to fit someone else’s idea of who you’re supposed to be, I promise you it’s going to be worth it.”

Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.

This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.