Though the arts play a vital role in building the economy and enhancing communities, obtaining adequate funding continues to be a difficult challenge, said Benjamin Krevolin, executive director of Dutchess County Arts Council (DCAC). Support from the private sector has been dwindling, even though the arts are increasingly recognized as a crucial contributor to quality of life, he said.
Krevolin said that while DCAC”™s arts funding has a history of private-sector participation, “We have seen that some traditional supporters of our arts funds have drastically reduced their participation.” In addition, “Corporations want more visibility, and we”™ve had to adjust to that desire.”
Krevolin said the shift was related to more companies going public. “When a company is public, they are responsible to the shareholders. Corporate philanthropy now has this huge oversight from investors.” Krevolin said that in recent years at least two major corporations, PepsiCo and Goldman Sachs, were sued by stockholders who objected to the money spent on philanthropy. “There is a greater caution in corporate philanthropy. What was once expected is now a more complicated dance for us to do.”
Ironically, the dearth in support parallels a rising awareness of the increasingly important role the arts play in the economy, particularly in this region. “People are recognizing that we are now in an economy of ideas,” Krevolin said. “Creative thinking and flexibility of intelligence is what is important for the future development of this country and the region.”
Krevolin cited The Solar Energy Consortium in Ulster County as one example of an economic development initiative utilizing creative strategies.
The creative economy is also immune to the outsourcing of jobs to lower-cost labor markets, which has imperiled the middle class and threatened even such traditional professions as accounting, he said. “We can”™t outsource our creative thinking,” Krevolin said. “What America has been able to hold onto is the ability to create a product that is easier to use or more exciting. That”™s the area that”™s going to be the income generator.”
He said that DCAC”™s 2008 budget is just over $800,000, with a third of the money coming from the state, a third from the county and a third from the private sector. The county”™s contribution this year did not increase from the year before, which in essence is a cut, considering the increase in cost of living, health insurance and mileage reimbursements. “Things won”™t happen because of that.”
Krevolin cited the findings of the “Many Voices One Valley 2007” report, a survey conducted by the Dyson Foundation and Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, as proof of the arts”™ relevance to residents in the Hudson Valley. “Almost 18 percent of respondents rated the arts as the highest priority for their community,” he said. Furthermore, the arts gained three percentage points between 2002 and 2005 in its rating as a priority. The study also showed the arts are given a higher priority among Latinos and African-Americans ”“ puncturing the myth the arts audience is elitist.
“The numbers show two things: More people want more art and understand the benefits, and the arts audience is more diverse than the general population,” said Krevolin.
The study also showed that out of the six counties participating in the study, respondents in Ulster County gave the arts the highest priority, he said.
Krevolin said his organization will be reaching out to Dutchess County”™s elected representatives in the next couple of months in an effort to attract more funding. “We are in the process of educating our state representatives on the importance of the money,” he said. “There”™s only so many years you can starve these organizations, before their systems start to shut down.”
