Bad Relationships Have a Way of Spreading

Bad relationships have a way of spreading, and no matter what the cause, having a bad relationship with funders is killing.

You could say that a single grant – say $10,000 dollars – doesn’t make a difference in a career. But I’ve seen how good business people turn that 10 into 30 and that 30 into 300. And without that ten, that thirty, it’s impossible to get off the ground.

Sitting here this evening working on the brochure for our FY 12 advocacy day I’m trying to revisit some key turning points for my own business. In the last administration I submitted 14 grants and got none. I know I make strong well crafted art. I work hard, and I’m a nice person. And I’m also a good writer. How did I not get any of those grants???? Not one? Many reasons, sure, but here’s one turning point I’m aware of:

The position of Executive Director at any government agency or foundation is one of tremendous influence. The Executive Director is like a Council-member; they may not have direct budget spending authority, but they carry massive influence on decision-making at all levels.

One way to influence granting is through the stacking of granting panels. Hypothetically, judging done by these independent expert panels is just that. In reality, DC is a very small community, and commission staff are directed to ask/pick the folks to be on the panels. And, being on a panel is a lot like jury duty: you don’t get paid for it, and you have to take off work, so it’s a self-selecting self-interested group that is even willing to serve. In a small city, then, these independent panels put together to judge grants are highly insular, and can either represent a thoughtfully independent cross-section of the arts community, or an insular cross-section of the arts community. It’s important not to be on the outs. Continue reading “Bad Relationships Have a Way of Spreading”

Mini me

As the DC Advocates for the Arts are organizing and fighting to maintain the budget of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities this year, I’m spending some time looking deeper into the eco-system of DC arts funding. Did you know that in fiscal 2011 the Kennedy Center federal appropriation was $23,500,000 for operations and maintenance and another $17,447,000 for capital?  Or that the fiscal 2011 National  Gallery of Art appropriation was a full $110,460,000? Mayor Gray’s proposed 2012 appropriation for the DCCAH is 3.92 million, total, and keep in mind that last year the DCCAH gave out over 300 grants with a similar appropriation.

The DC Arts scene is complex. It includes a Federal scene, which is supported by Federal money, a Northwest local scene, and a neighborhood scene. The Federal scene includes the Kennedy Center and Smithsonians, and the Northwest local scene includes a small group of theaters, including Arena, Studio, Shakespeare. The neighborhood scene and to a lesser extent the Northwest local scene are supported by funding from the DCCAH. The Federal art folks apply and get grants from the DCCAH, but as % of their budgets,  that funding is a drop in the bucket that allows them to deliver more to locals (as opposed to the tourists.)

The National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs (NCACA) Program was created in 1985 to address the downward pressure of Federal arts institutions on District Arts organizations. It has significantly supported creation of the Northwest local arts scene (which also serves neighborhoods.) In any city the largest arts institutions get the most support from foundations, and private funders. The boards of the largest organizations, in every city, lead private giving, and while the presence of the Smithsonians and Kennedy Center is a great benefit for DC tourism, it has created a strong downward pressure on the local arts community, not only in foundation dollars, but in board participation and private money.

Since 1985 the NCACA program has provided operating support of between $250,000 and $450,000 per year to a small group of qualifying arts organizations in the District. The qualifying group has grown substantially since 1985 – from 3 when the program started, to 25 this past year. The Arena Stage, Studio Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theater, and others would not exist in their current forms without the National Capitol Arts and Cultural Affairs Program. In FY 12 President Obama’s budget proposed a reduction in National Capitol Arts funding from 9.5 million to 5 million. These changes are not final, but it seems unlikely that Congress will put money back into the arts this year. As we focus toward DC’s Arts Advocacy Day, and asking the Mayor and Council to support the local arts community, it’s appropriate to realize how dwarfed we are locally by the Federal arts scene, and Federal arts monies.

Will DC have local art, or will we only have Federal arts? These are questions being answered in the current Federal and District FY 12 budget debates.

– Rob Bettmann

Institutional Memory

In a city of transience, I’m beginning to feel like the old guy on the block. The one who ‘remembers when’. In that spirit I’m publishing today something that I wrote back in 2007.

At the time I wrote it I was pretty afraid to be ‘barred’ by the Kennedy Center for criticizing them. I run a local dance company, and my company cannot grow without the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center on the Millenium Stage. The Millenium Stage/Kennedy Center is a critical credit and potential support. I thought that if I didn’t publish this, but just gave it to some folks I might appropriately influence policy, without making enemies. I gave it by hand to six people who I knew could influence without making me enemies. I don’t know if it had any impact, but in 2009 they didn’t bring the Nutcracker in at Christmas, and haven’t since, so that’s a start.

(Title Removed)

If you liked dance, and wanted to see a few performances each year, would you pick: a), The Kirov, American Ballet Theater, and Alvin Ailey; or b) Washington Ballet, Lucy Bowen-McCaulay and Reflections? It is no-one’s fault; the majority of audience members pick A. Continue reading “Institutional Memory”