Arts expert Donna Walker-Kuhne recently declared that the United States is facing a “twin pandemic” of COVID-19 and racism. We see this as the anchor for a conversation about the future.
How can the field of arts and culture, which has been so deeply affected by both crises, move forward?
Forced closure of arts organizations at the start of the pandemic demanded concentrated attention on the short-term. Our thoughts turned to resiliency and guideposts for organizations as they began to contemplate the path forward.
To begin, we took stock of potential financial outcomes over a 12-month horizon. Using October 2020 as an average “reopen” assumption, we estimated that the annual aggregate net loss to the U.S. field of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations will be $6.8 billion. On a per-organization basis, this translates to an average deficit equivalent to 26 percent of budget.
This financial evaluation provides a starting place to get arts leaders and board members in a frame of mind to ask a first critical question, “What might the next year look like for our organization?”
It also provides a clear-eyed view for communities contemplating the support required for organizations to reopen. Those that headed into the crisis with lower fixed costs, adaptive capabilities, liquidity and strong community ties have greater odds of not just surviving, but reviving.
Many culturally specific organizations are particularly at risk, not because they are less effective or relevant than their peers but because they tend to have less access to cash. This includes in-house liquid resources, credit line limits, and — recently — access to government Payroll Protection Program funds.
Culturally specific organizations are affected by the same structural racism and inequities that affect the people and communities they serve.
As the sector moves from the initial reaction to sustained action, the way organizations adapt will differentiate those that not only weather the crisis but grow through it. These challenging times call for a move in energy away from resignation or aggression toward passion for the communities that organizations were formed to serve.
There are three propositions proposed in the 2009 Harvard Business Review article “How Strategy Shapes Structure” related to alignment in the value an organization provides, the economic engine that supports it, and the people who deliver the organization’s services, which any organization can develop to achieve success and organize thinking when facing crisis.
Today’s twin pandemics create an urgent need for contemplation of purpose, and for strong leadership not just to guide the sector’s status-quo survival but catalyze revolution within it. This model led us to formulate questions for organizations to consider when shaping their own strategy.
— What is the source of our strength? What do we do that is most meaningful and relevant to the community? Figure out what aspects make your organization unique, and narrow that list to the aspects people care about. Organizations do not determine what work resonates, people decide for themselves.
This moment compels organizations to adapt, reimagine and innovate in how they provide continuing value. How can you leverage your assets and services to better the lives of people in your community now?
— How will we manage our revenue and people propositions to confront the new reality? Revenue models will certainly change in the near-term, and possibly permanently. Mapping this potential and imagining “the new” can be inspiring, such as Dance Theatre of Harlem’s streaming service #DTHOnDemand, sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Tanglewood’s digital offerings available for purchase.
This time challenges organizations to work in new, inspiring ways that keep artists at the center of innovation, create flatter work groups that expedite decision-making, and seed collaborations. Governance should adapt to current needs including bold strategic planning, commitment to investment that fuels recovery, and representation of diverse perspectives.
— When our doors reopen, whom will we gather? This is a watershed moment for arts organizations. The twin pandemics have laid bare racial and income divides in society, intensifying pre-crisis inequity and polarization.
Examining this question represents an opportunity to rethink whether and how organizations will serve more or different segments of their communities than before. Even before doors reopen, who will have access to programming, how, and when?
How will those decisions affect longer-term redefinition of the organization’s value proposition? Resilient organizations will be those whose work is meaningful to a sufficiently large and diverse segment of the community that cares whether they exist. Organizations that don’t keep this in mind miss opportunities to increase their footprint.
Ultimately, the communal nature of arts participation will be a strength to communities hungry to come together again and affirm existential meaning after prolonged isolation and polarization.
Organizations that take action now by making new connections, developing collaborations and investing in audience expansion will provide signals about the role they want to play after the crisis.
