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Arts Survival
The arts in CNY struggle to survive the pandemic
COVID ARTS RELIEF FUND CREATED TO HELP BRIDGE FUNDING GAP David Tyler
Empty theaters, canceled arts and crafts shows, and concerns about visiting museums and galleries have put Central New York’s arts community in financial peril.
Elizabeth Lane is the program director for CNY Arts, a local non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, supporting and celebrating arts in the seven-county Central New York region. Based on a recent survey of its members, Lane estimated that arts organizations and individual artists in the region have suffered revenue losses of upwards of $50 million since the pandemic began. And with the spread of the coronavirus ramping up again this fall, it doesn’t appear that a quick end to the downturn is in sight.
The survey CNY Arts recently commissioned showed that only 6 percent of arts organizations and 11 percent of individual artists have been left financially whole through the pandemic. More than 75 percent rate the pandemic’s financial impact from “severe” to “extremely severe.”
Lane said that most of the arts organizations in Central New York have been able to sustain themselves through the downturn using a mix of grants and CARES Act funding, but as federal assistance has dried up, those revenue sources are dwindling.
“The data from the survey shows that organizations would start to run out of cash on hand toward the end of October if there was no relief,” Lane said, and CNY Arts is beginning to hear from some of its member organizations that they may be forced to close permanently.
“Particularly those seasonal organizations that completely canceled their summer programs, they’re really struggling to figure out what to do in 2021 and into the future,” Lane said. “There are quite a few organizations that are struggling to get by.”
Even for those museums, galleries and sites celebrating local history that have been able to open their doors the struggle to attract patrons persists.
“They’re not really seeing the same numbers of people,” Lane said. Patrons are staying away, in part, because of concerns over the spread of the virus, but for the historic sites, which are heavily dependent on student visits during the fall, the elimination of all school field trips has dropped their attendance numbers.
Individual creators hit hard
While some visual artists have been able to find a marketplace on the internet, it doesn’t compare to the arts festivals that pepper the calendar during the summer months.
“The summer is such a huge arts and cultural season for visual artists,” Lane said, noting that events like the massive Arts and Crafts Festival in downtown Syracuse is a tremendous revenue generator for area artists. “With all of that closed they really did not have revenue opportunities at all this summer,” she said.
And because many artists – both performance and visual – are also teachers, the inability to hold in-person privateinstruction during the lockdown has also hit been a financial blow.
The average artist in Central New York lost just under $17,000 in revenue from March 1 to September 30, the survey showed. And as the pandemic goes on, the monthly rate of revenue loss continues to escalate.
“There are layers upon layers of impact financially, but also from a mental health standpoint,” Lane said. “The fact that this is what they love to do and they’re passionate about and they can’t do it, my heart breaks a little bit.”
A review of the comments in the survey show just how devastating this has been on a personal level.
“This pandemic is devastating professionally and personally and will be devastating for myself and the entire arts community in Central New York for years to come,” one artist responded. “I have
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lost opportunities to exhibit my work both individually Courtney Rile is both an artist and a partner with Daylight and in group exhibits and sales of my artwork [have] Blue Media Group, a photography and video production completely evaporated.” company that works with a variety of arts organizations around
“I don’t know how I am going to be able to keep my home,” Central New York documenting exhibits and performances. another responded. “I applied for social services … I have In the first couple of months of the pandemic, Daylight Blue enough food, but they only provide $208 for housing for myself had all its bookings canceled, but as time went on the company and my child … I don’t know where in the world we can rent has been helping artists and arts organizations create virtual for that.” performances and exhibits. It has required an investment in Arts are big business The cancellation of performances and festivals doesn’t just hit artists and arts organizations in the wallet. It is also a blow to restaurants, hotels, even babysitters. A 2018 study by LeMoyne College and CNY Arts showed that the arts had a positive overall annual economic impact of $99.4 million on the Syracuse area and sustained more than 3,300 jobs in the community. With so much at stake, CNY Arts, in concert with the Central New York Community Foundation, has established the COVID-19 Arts Impact Fund with the goal of providing $1 million in grants to area artists and arts organizations. To date, the fund has already received $162,000, and needs to receive an additional $75,000 in donations by the end of the year to unlock matching grants of $75,000 promised by the John Ben Snow Foundation and the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation. The CNY Community Foundation has also promised matching grants of $100,000. The money is already being distributed. In September, Lane said CNY Arts issued 15 mini grants video production in a contactless manner. “We’re not where we were in February, by any means, but things have stabilized for us, and we are finding new creative ways to deliver content to audiences,” Rile said. “We are bridging that gap between the performer and the performing organization and the audience.” “Artists are going to continue to create. That’s never going to stop,” she continued. “It’s been really great to see how organizations are being really creative. It will change the nature of our experience in the future, permanently I think.” Many of the performances that have gone on during COVID are supported by grants, Rile said, so that funding stream was established prepandemic. The future of arts funding is very much up in the air, however. “Arts funding isn’t very good to begin with and a lot of these organizations are struggling to survive without COVID,” Rile said. “The additional impact of COVID could be enough to make some organizations fold. It might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back, because the situation wasn’t great before.” SWM “Arts funding isn’t very good to begin with and a lot of these organizations are struggling to survive without COVID,” Rile said. “The additional impact of COVID could be enough to make some organizations fold. It might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back, because the situation wasn’t great before.” of $450 to struggling artists and arts organizations. In October, another series of grants of between $1,000 and $10,000 Editor’s note: Contributions to the COVID-19 were issued. Arts Impact Fund can be made at cnycf.org/ cnyartscovidimpact or by mailing a check payable to: CNY Arts COVID-19 Impact Innovating on the fly Fund, c/o Central New York Community If there’s a silver lining in all of this, its that the arts industry is adapting to the new reality and innovating how it makes Foundation, 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. Corporate matching-gifts are welcome. the arts available to the public despite the pandemic. equipment as well as a rethinking about how to engage in
