Yearning for a conversation about the arts in Philadelphia
Peter Dobrin says the pursuit of ticket revenue has turned arts groups into “followers of public taste” rather than leaders, and philanthropists are calling the tune.
Philadelphia has opened most of the new concert halls, theaters, and other arts spaces it set out to build in the culture boom of the past two decades. Now, who pays the piper?
If this were Europe, the operating budgets of a Kimmel Center, Please Touch Museum, and Barnes Foundation would be covered largely through government subsidies. But here, we rely on philanthropy and ticket sales. And more than ever, arts groups must chase the populist (and fickle) ticket buyer while accommodating philanthropists with strongly expressed agendas. They call the tune.
In three months of speaking with nearly 100 arts, business, and philanthropy leaders for The Inquirer's recent "Culture at a Crossroads" series, the lack of strong civic leadership repeatedly emerged as the city's clearest deficit.
Does Philadelphia have high-profile arts advocates today? In the same way you keep expecting some group of savvy, well-connected city mothers and fathers to solve the public school crises, you yearn for someone to lead a conversation about the arts.
There is much to talk about. Some groups are having trouble making mortgage payments (the Please Touch Museum); others are pulling more money than ever out of an already-limited donor pool to pay higher operating costs (the Barnes, the National Museum of American Jewish History). Some doubtless will thrive; others may wither and die.
Philadelphia has opened most of the new concert halls, theaters, and other arts spaces it set out to build in the culture boom of the past two decades. Now, who pays the piper?
If this were Europe, the operating budgets of a Kimmel Center, Please Touch Museum, and Barnes Foundation would be covered largely through government subsidies. But here, we rely on philanthropy and ticket sales. And more than ever, arts groups must chase the populist (and fickle) ticket buyer while accommodating philanthropists with strongly expressed agendas. They call the tune.
In three months of speaking with nearly 100 arts, business, and philanthropy leaders for The Inquirer's recent "Culture at a Crossroads" series, the lack of strong civic leadership repeatedly emerged as the city's clearest deficit.
Does Philadelphia have high-profile arts advocates today? In the same way you keep expecting some group of savvy, well-connected city mothers and fathers to solve the public school crises, you yearn for someone to lead a conversation about the arts.
There is much to talk about. Some groups are having trouble making mortgage payments (the Please Touch Museum); others are pulling more money than ever out of an already-limited donor pool to pay higher operating costs (the Barnes, the National Museum of American Jewish History). Some doubtless will thrive; others may wither and die.