Global financial crisis and recession: impact on the arts
Description
D'Art Topic No. 37: Global financial crisis and recession: Impact on the arts
Arts councils and ministries of culture have a key role in working to minimise the negative impacts of the downturn on the arts and in helping artists and arts organisations navigate such uncertain times. They also have a key role in advising on and coordinating the arts and cultural aspects of the much-publicised central government responses to the downturn.
The aim of the report is to consolidate the collective expertise of IFACCA members as quickly as possible in order to help members respond to the downturn in a timely and informed way. This report presents the results of a survey of members of IFACCA on the likely impacts on the arts of the global downturn, and on how arts councils and ministries of culture around the world are helping arts sectors meet the challenges of the downturn.
While the overwhelming majority of respondents expect the global downturn to impact on the arts, many are still unsure about the extent, nature and timing of the impacts. Respondents unanimously agreed that a follow-up survey should be undertaken in 2009.
Publications
Social entrepreneurship: new ways of working, future trends and opportunities?
LabforCulture starts the autumn with a feature on Social entrepreneurship. Following on from the review of the financial crisis and the cultural sector, it wanted to focus on new trends in working practices, applicable in and out of the cultural sector. more >
D'Art report: Global financial crisis and recession: Impact on the arts
The aim of the report is to consolidate the collective expertise of IFACCA members as quickly as possible in order to help members respond to the downturn in a timely and informed way. more >
Arts Sponsorship Outlook Survey
The global financial crisis will impact on corporate sponsorship of the arts, with 49 per cent of companies stating that they expect to decrease their arts sponsorships over the next 12 months. more >
After the Crunch
In the last ten years the creative industries have become one of the most fashionable and talked-about components of the global economy. more >
The Recession & The Arts: The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Nonprofit Cultural Groups in New York City
The most recent survey from Alliance for the Arts shows that arts groups of all sizes and disciplines are reducing their budgets, planning to lay off employees and cutting programs as a result of the economic crisis. more >
News
Greek Festival: a victim of the crisis
One month before raising its curtain this summer, the Greek Festival has yet to divulge its final program regarding events taking place in Athens. The same goes for the venues that will host the event’s local and foreign theater and dance performances. more >
Recession hitting 'cultural creatives' especially hard
While the recession seems to loosening its grip on the U.S. economy, but one group isn't seeing it. The cultural creatives, small businesspeople like photographers, architects and graphic designers have seen their ranks thinned by 20 to 30 percent and are still waiting for the bounce back. more >
Drastic Cuts to Cultural Programs will Hurt Canadian Audiences and Economy
The Writers Guild of Canada is deeply concerned about the substantial cuts to culture outlined in the Federal budget, in particular the cumulative effect of cuts to the audiovisual sector, including CBC, Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board. more >
Investing in Culture in a Time of Crisis
One recent morning, the mail brought word of a new opera production in Marseille, and a black-and-white print from 1963 of Parisian youth by the Seine (greetings from the mayor’s office). From Perpignan came news of its cultural offerings in 2012. more >
The urgent need for dialogue between culture and European politics
As the crisis bites on cultural budgets, artists and political leaders must work towards greater integration of culture in future EU policies and budgetary orientations, argues a high-level group of European artists gathered under the umbrella of the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (Bozar). more >
Economics speaks louder than words when making the case for UK culture
John Tusa's call for a unique language for the arts may limit the sector's ability to engage with Whitehall, argues Dave O'Brien more >
America’s Biggest Businesses Set Flat Giving Budgets
Corporate profits are on the rebound, but most big businesses say it will be some time before they can give as much cash as they did before the recession, according to a Chronicle survey of 162 of the country’s largest corporations. more >
Phantom space an incubator for artistic reality
There's an upside to the economic slowdown: the rise of pop-up art. That's when unconventional space -- an abandoned warehouse perhaps -- is used in creative ways by emerging artists. more >
Scottish arts funding hard hit by economic downturn
MORE than four out of ten arts organisations in Scotland have reported a drop in income, according to a survey. The Scottish Arts Council carried out a survey of dance, theatre, music and visual arts organisations to ask how they were coping with the economic downturn. more >
Singapore’s arts scene remained buoyant in 2008
The 2008 arts statistics released by the National Arts Council (NAC) today showed that the arts scene in Singapore was resilient in the face of the economic downturn, registering positive growth in some areas. more >
'Devastating' cuts to B.C. literary groups
British Columbia's publishing industry is reeling after what are being described as “massive” cuts to the province's literary organizations. more >
Arts funding down, but sales tax plan eliminated in Pennsylvania budget proposal
Arts funding is down, but arts groups will celebrate what is not in the state budget. A proposal to begin imposing the state sales tax on ticket sales for an array of live performances was dropped. more >
Cultural institutions stagger out of recession
Now that "recovery" has replaced "recession" as the favourite R-word of financial prophets, it's time to ask whether Toronto's cherished but vulnerable cultural institutions can manage to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again after a year of living dangerously. more >
Arts festivals keep sponsors despite economic downturn
Some of Australia's arts festivals seem to be bucking the global financial trend by continuing to attract significant corporate sponsorship. more >
Deal with banks eases debt fears for MOT
Michigan Opera Theatre has reached a critical deal with its banks to cut its loan payments in half for the next 18 months, resolving a year-long cash flow crisis that threatened to force the company into foreclosure or bankruptcy. more >
Blog: How to solve the arts funding crisis?
Only the most wildly optimistic or hopelessly deluded could possibly believe that the future funding climate looks anything other than grim. But it is good to see the National Campaign for the Arts launching its Manifesto for the Arts, in anticipation of the election next year, and emphasising the contribution the arts make to the country. more >
IMLS launches “Libraries to the Rescue” podcast series
Library use is on a steady rise and the economic downturn has resulted in even greater need for library services. IMLS introduced Libraries to the Rescue to share with libraries steps that other libraries have taken to help their communities. more >
Scots government unveils £5m recession fund for arts
The Scottish government has announced details of a £5 million package of funds aimed at helping the arts and cultural sector through the current economic downturn. more >
Coping with the financial crisis: a creative response
It is important to recall that the creative economy is omnipresent in our daily lives, providing stimulus for our happiness and well-being. Every individual in any part of the world consumes creative products every single day through education or work, as well as in moments of leisure and entertainment. more >
Creative Scotland innovation fund
Creative Scotland 2009 Ltd has created an innovative package of projects to support Scotland's artists and practitioners during these tough economic times. more >
At the art of a resurgent Wales
As a new survey reveals that, in spite of the recession, more people than ever before are attending and taking part in arts events, Dai Smith, chairman of the Arts Council of Wales, argues that it’s proof more money needs to be invested in the sector. more >
Warning to Treasury over peril of cutting arts funding
Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey is to tell the Treasury that cutting arts funding is "more trouble than it's worth". more >
Don't forget the cultural economy
Could the creative industries provide innovative models which will make this sector not just resilient in the current economic climate, but allow it to flourish? more >
Charities struggling
A quiet crisis is unfolding in nonprofit circles across the country, and the issue is particularly acute in wealthy Southwest Florida, where charity is a central part of life and major donors have been hit hard by the economic downturn. Big declines in charitable giving are forcing nonprofit organizations from the YMCA and Easter Seals to the Florida Studio Theatre to cut jobs and programs. more >
The value of arts (funding)
The recession has squeezed state budgets across the country, and different governors have taken different approaches to how they treat the funding of their state arts agencies. Citizens can look at how leaders are treating the arts during the recession to gauge how the arts might be valued in their states (or at least by their leaders). more >
How the Economy Is Shaping Artists' Lives, Livelihoods and Creative Choices
Nearly 700 artists responded to the Artists and the Economy Survey, which invited them to discuss how the recession is affecting their income, creative work and well-being. more >
Report on the Global Financial Crisis
IFACCA is delighted to release D’Art report no.37, Global financial crisis and recession: Impact on the arts.more >
A notice to all funded organisations on the Arts Council's reduced budget allocation
You may be aware that the Arts Council grant-in-aid from Government has been reduced twice in recent months - in February and again in April. The combined effect of these cuts is a loss of €2.35m on the sum originally provided in the October 2008 budget. more >
Creating A Scene
Desperate to attract a burgeoning creative sector, ‘creative clusters’ are the new economic drivers of Europe, but are they the answer? more >
Iceland stuck between a rock and hard place
How will Iceland’s art institutions and galleries emerge from the economic crisis? As most public funding is up for reassessment, the immediate future of independent arts institutions, organisations and projects is extremely shaky. more >
PA Senate votes to eliminate cultural funding despite increasing public demand for arts
On Wednesday, May 6, in its latest budget proposal, the Pennsylvania Senate moved to eliminate cultural funding. Ironically, the proposal comes at a time when arts organizations in the region are struggling to meet increased public demand for their programs and services. more >
LabforCulture: sharing experiences on the financial crisis
LabforCulture has recently created a dedicated online space featuring articles and stories on the impact of the financial crisis on the culture and arts sector around the world. more >
In the red? Let’s paint the town
While empty shops punctuating high streets may have become a defining, if depressing, feature of the credit crunch, Scotland's artists are finding these spaces left behind by collapsing retailers perfect for setting up impromptu galleries and studios. more >
Stage of Emergency
Once flush with corporate and private donations, rising ticket revenue and government subsidies, many nonprofit arts groups now find themselves reeling. Cuts of every kind -- staff and artist layoffs, furloughs, canceled performances and tours, truncated seasons -- are widespread. more >
Study emphasizes importance of creative sector to Texas economy
A new study shows that Texas’ creative sector is growing faster and paying higher wages than jobs in other arenas. But the study warns that more funding is needed to continue that momentum. more >
Ontario is expanding its support of an innovative economy
Ontario is continuing to support the growth of an innovative economy by renewing the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund with a $12 million investment over the next four years. The announcement was made by the Hon. Aileen Carroll, Minister of Culture, in a speech before the Economic Club of Canada. more >
Statement from Chairman on budget cuts
April saw the announcement of a new budget for the Arts Council for 2009; the figure was confirmed on the publication of the revised estimates. A statement from Chairman, Pat Moylan said "the level of public funding allocated underscores the commitment of the Government, and in particular the Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism, Martin Cullen TD, to the distinctive contribution of the arts to the Irish economy." more >
Historic Scotland offers credit crunch special for families
Historic Scotland is offering a credit-crunch special for families, "Make Your Own History", whereby people get six months free membership when they buy 12 months. This means a family will pay just £6.16 a month for free access to over 70 properties run by Historic Scotland. more >
No time for faint arts
The arts are often first to lose out when governments slash budgets, but former chairman of Arts Council England Sir Christopher Frayling argues that increasing arts budgets could aid economic recovery. more >
Blog: Fund the arts: It's the law
Thomas H. Kean is former governor of New Jersey. HIs blog suggesting that the new governor follow the law and fund the arts at least to the statutory minimum, brough about an overwhelmingly positive reaction. more >
What’s wrong with the arts establishment
Sometimes luvvies are their own worst enemies. Good grief, did I say sometimes? There are few sounds more likely to turn us all into philistines than the perennial chorus of arts luminaries droning on about how vital the arts are for the nation. more >
Arts Council: counter-recessionary funding
Two days after news of funding cuts the Arts Council have announced they are investing an extra £44.5 million in artists and arts organisations over the next two years to help maintain artistic excellence during the economic downturn. more >
Regional arts organisations 'hardest hit by recession'
Regional museums, art galleries and theatres are being hit hardest by the recession, according to a new survey. more >
Budget shrinks arts funding
Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts, yesterday saw its government funding for 2010/11 slashed by £4 million as part of Alistair Darling’s budget. Though ACE was prepared for larger losses of up to £14 million, the funding cuts will be felt by many companies who were relying on the money to enable new projects to progress. Regularly funded companies, however, could be spared reduction of support. more >
The economic crisis is an opportunity to rethink the role of the State
Sandro Bondi: ‘Following the presentation by Marcello Venziani on culture and the crisis, inspired by the convention, organized by MiBAC with the French Academy, attended by another 40 Italian and French intellectuals, allow me to add some brief thoughts.’ more >
Ibero-American Culture: a tool to face the crisis
The Ibero-American General Secretary, thinks that culture can be an efficient tool in Ibero-America against the economic crisis. more >
Podcast: How Arts Groups Can Weather the Economy
How can arts organizations weather the current economic downturn and continue to serve people well? more >
Blog: The arts and the 2009 budget - good news
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is asked to make £168m in savings over three years; £4m to be cut from Arts Council England's budget 2010-11 Given the circumstances, it looks like good news. more >
Culture can drive the economic and social growth
Something remarkable has happened in Toronto: extraordinary building projects for major Ontario cultural institutions have been completed. Programs have been renewed and revitalized. Accessibility and inclusiveness have become standards, increasingly reflecting the changing face of Toronto and Canada. more >
Florida officials push to outlaw arts funding
Faced with a budget deficit of $3 billion, Florida lawmakers are considering repealing a law providing state funding for art, the St. Petersburg Times reports. more >
ACE warns arts sector it could face cuts of up to £14 million in 2010
The cultural sector is bracing itself for more financial upheaval, after Arts Council England revealed it is preparing for up to £14 million of cuts to its 2010 funding package from government. more >
How song, dance and movies bailed us out of the Depression
Popular culture provided the optimism and energy that helped the country get moving. We may need that again. more >
Ex-Gov. Kean may sue over NJ arts funding cuts
Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean says he is so upset over Gov. Jon Corzine's plan to cut arts funding that he may sue. The Republican, who led New Jersey for most of the 1980s, tells The Star-Ledger of Newark he's "outraged" by the proposed cuts. more >
Musicians plead for increased arts funding
Linda Ronstadt, Josh Groban and Wynton Marsalis recall their experiences with music before a House panel in hopes of raising the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts to $200 million. more >
Members of the Arts Council and the executive meet with the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs
On the 11 March, Mary Cloake, Director; Pat Moylan, Chairman; Alan Stanford and Philip King, Members of the Arts Council met with the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The subject up for discussion was arts funding, and particularly maintaining arts funding during the economic downturn. more >
In Washington, entertainment makes its case for funding
The National Endowment for the Arts reported this month that 6% of all artists were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- twice the rate of other professional workers -- and that the number of unemployed artists grew to 129,000 last year, from 50,000 in 2007. more >
Lottery grants drop as costs soar
National Lottery grants to sport and heritage projects have dropped by over 50% in a decade while administration costs have soared, figures reveal. more >
Quebec plugs holes left by federal arts cuts
Folks in the province's cultural milieu are pleased to see the Quebec government is set to replace some of the arts funding cut by Ottawa last year. more >
Arts groups lose out in fight for funds
Museums, theaters and operas, already reeling from the recession, are having a tough time attracting support amid perceptions that vital services like soup kitchens and homeless shelters should receive funds first. more >
Cancellations and pay cuts as recession plunges American orchestras into crisis
The recession is taking its toll on the American arts scene. According to the support network Americans for the Arts, 10,000 organisations could fold this year. more >
Creative buds can bloom in a recession
There is less money but more working space in hard times, writes Marcus Westbury more >
Arts world braced for 'hurricane' as recession hits
From art galleries to opera houses, UK cultural organisations face cutbacks or even collapse as private sponsors pull out and government money dries up more >
Latvian state agency Jaunie tris brali to be liquidated
The state agency Jaunie tris brali (J3B), which was established with the purpose to implement the Latvian National Library, Riga Concert Hall and Contemporary Art Museum construction projects, will be liquidated, the new Culture Minister Ints Dalderis informed LETA. more >
Nation turns to culture to cope with financial crisis
China is to set up three major cultural groups to mine its wealth of culture and give a boost to the cultural industry during the financial crisis. more >
Arts Quarter Announces Findings From Fund-raising and Revenue Generation Survey
Arts Quarter has announced the findings of its recent Fund-raising and Revenue Generation Survey conducted over January and February 2009. more >
For artists, the picture is bleak
Self-employed writers, actors and musicians know how to get through lean times, but this crisis is forcing many to take dramatic steps. more >
Getting creative to survive
People in the arts feel the pinch, too, but they can draw on their talent to stay afloat. more >
Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Ministers: Culture in Crisis paper
During the meeting of Minsters of Culture of Latin America and the Carribbean, which began yesterday in Buenos Aires, the majority of the 30 representatives of the region analysed the paper on 'culture in a situation of global crisis'. more >
El papel de la cultura en la crisis
En la Reunión de Ministros de Cultura de América latina y el Caribe, que comenzó ayer en Buenos Aires, los más de 30 representantes de la región analizaron el papel de la cultura en el escenario de la crisis mundial. more >
Survival tactics
Local arts companies are cutting costs in a bid to avoid the dramatic downsizing forced upon many of their United States counterparts by the global economic crisis. Will it be enough? more >
Culture to unite people for overcoming economic slump
Yu In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a published address notes that "There may seem to be no relation between culture and the economic crisis, but the fundamental way to cope with it comes from culture because it heals people's painful hearts. During these economically difficult times, our lives would be much harsher without culture and art". more >
Tough Times Call for Shrewd Artists
A look at successful strategies adopted by artists and arts organisations in previous recessions. more >
Economic crisis hits mountain film festival
The annual Mountain Film Festival, which features films themed around mountains, mountain culture, the environment and nature, is hit by the economic crisis this year. Because of a lack of sponsors, some sections of the festival have been canceled. more >
Culture at the heart of stimulus plan
Christine Albanel presents the measures put in place for culture, as part of the stimulus plan to respond to the effects of the financial crisis. more >
Culture: I'd do anything to be crunched like this
Now that Britain is officially in recession, will people start spending less money on culture? The conventional wisdom is that the arts don't suffer during times of economic hardship because the need for escapism is greater than ever – and this is borne out by the latest statistics. more >
Information regarding the Arts and Economic Stimulus
There has been much public conversation recently regarding the role of the arts and culture industry in economic stimulus. Following is information that seeks to clarify this issue through two key points: that the arts and culture industry is a sector of the economy just like any other with workers who pay taxes, mortgages, rent and contribute in other ways to the economy; and that the National Endowment for the Arts is uniquely positioned to assist in job stimulation for that industry. more >
How can the cultural sector survive the financial crisis?
The global financial crisis is already having a significant impact on philanthropic giving and non-profit organisations. more >
¿Cómo puede el sector cultural sobrevivir a la crisis financiera?
Está claro para todos que la crisis financiera global ya está teniendo un impacto significante en los donativos filantrópicos y las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro. more >
The arts fall to our concerns over more basic needs
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that individuals were motivated by a five-level “hierarchy of needs.” If that hierarchy is applied to society as a whole, it can safely be said we have slipped a notch. It is being reported in Indianapolis - and surely the same story could be told almost anywhere - that the economic crisis is hammering the arts. We must concentrate on our more basic needs, so “culture” - which helps society be all it can be - suffers. more >
Keynes's vision for investment in culture and creativity for tough times
It is a remarkable reflection on the profound effect of the economic crisis that the name of John Maynard Keynes is once again being heard in the corridors of power. more >
Arts community braces for budget news
Mayor Nutter pledged his support to the Philly artistic community during a meeting in City Hall last night, but said cuts to arts funding may not be over. "I can't stand here today and tell you we won't have to take further action in the current fiscal year," Nutter said to the standing-room-only crowd gathered in the mayor's reception room for a town-hall meeting on how the budget crisis will affect the arts. more >
Experts urge new era of global human rights and equality amidst world economic turmoil
More than 120 of the world’s leading human rights and equality experts are today calling for the most radical re-think of equal rights in two generations as global economic turmoil holds nations in its grip. Signatories from 44 nations are urging governments and individuals to back the new declaration. more >
Arts Groups Fret the Woes of Big Donors
With Wall Street in a shame spiral, "What's coming next?" is a question that has everyone in the arts community taking big, anxious gulps. more >
Creative crisis: the arts world in revolt
It was meant to provide new focus and impetus for the arts in Scotland. Instead the Creative Scotland Bill has been called a political car crash. more >
Events
Reasons for programming contemporary performing arts in times of crisis
Reasons for programming contemporary performing arts in times of crisis is the subject of the International Conference of Performing Arts which will take place within the framework of the Huesca Fair 2009. more >
Culture Meets Economy: Culture and Crisis – Opportunity or Threat?
For the second time, the European Academy Bozen/Bolzano and the University of Innsbruck are organizing a Scientific Track within the framework of the conference Culture Meets Economy, to take place from 30 June to 1 July 2009 in Bolzano, Italy. Deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15 April 2009. more >
Leadership in tough times
In light of the current economic crisis, Americans for the Arts will host a Webinar on December 10, Leadership in Tough Times. Participants will discuss the strategic questions that arts leaders must consider in challenging times—cutting grants, organizations going out of business, talking about the value of the arts during an economic downturn. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >