“There is ample evidence to demonstrate that nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the United States are rebounding from the Great Recession—albeit more slowly than other parts of the nonprofit sector,” write Eileen Cunniffe and Julie Hawkins in an in-depth article posted on February 9 at the Nonprofit Quarterly website. “The 2014 National Arts Index compiled by Americans for the Arts notes that while the overall economic recovery began in 2009, it did not positively affect the arts until 2012. A report from the Urban Institute in 2014 showed that arts, culture, and humanities nonprofits took the largest hit—proportionately—on revenue during the recession.… Two more-recent reports … highlight some positive trends, as well as continued areas of concern, for the cultural sector.” The article considers “preexisting conditions that made the arts sector particularly vulnerable to the recession, as well as … actions taken by arts leaders—first to stabilize their organizations, then to experiment with new approaches to delivering their missions.… Across the country, arts organizations are actively seeking to broaden their relevance, appeal, and reflection of America’s changing demographics.”
Posted February 18, 2016
