July 31, 2020

By Frank Rizzo for AudienceOutlookMonitor.com

On the day that the Paycheck Protection Program is slated to end in the U.S. -- and the devastating effect that would have on the arts and culture community, I found myself thinking about an article I read in New York magazine this week and how it echoed what many of my colleagues have been talking about for several months.

Sometimes an article just nails it, with facts, figures and elegant prose.

First some background: Since early May I’ve been sharing stories from the U.K. about high-profile arts leaders going to the media to put headline-making pressure on the politicians there to save English cultural heritage as arts institutions large and small struggled to survive during the pandemic.

This seemed to me a full-tilt, p.r. blitz to make sure the vulnerable arts sector was not overlooked.

After all, other European countries — as early as March — had big-number financial packages specifically designed for arts and cultural groups. But where was the commitment to help in the U.K., these celeb leaders asked loudly again and again and again. (It helps to keep on drum beating in a campaign.)

These names included, among others, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer Cameron Mackintosh, director Sam Mendes and, for good measure, Prince Charles.

The result?

A nearly $2 billion package to help the cultural sector was announced earlier this month and whose details were just released this week.

Yes, unions and other arts groups did big media pushes as well with demands and detailed plans. But it was the big names who brought the spotlight to the issue

Meanwhile, here in the U.S. the arts alarm bells were —and still are — ringing. A third of U.S. museums are reported to be in jeopardy. Americans for the Arts says that 12,000 arts organizations in the U.S. aren’t confident they can weather the storm. Freelancers are at the end of their ropes.

But so far no sweeping rescue plan…

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