Let's Save The Arts!

The Kennedy Center is an excellent venue, but they suffer from a variety of limitations - some structural, some self-imposed. They are off the beaten track; restaurants and public transportation are not easily accessible; the shuttle bus from the Metro is slow and inconvenient. It costs close to 20 dollars to park your car. If you want good seats you need to purchase a membership. Their marketing is uninspired. Ticket prices are rigidly set and high, and they offer discounts rarely or quietly (you need to ask). There are no pay-what-you-can shows. The Kennedy Center is one of (if not) the most restrictive venues for bloggers I've come across. They will only provide complimentary tickets to credentialed press or websites with high traffic, i.e., run as a business.

Their track record speaks for itself. Except for opera and a few select performances, hundreds of seats sit unoccupied in each of their theaters, each and every day. Who's to blame for this sorry predicament - which by the way is not unique to the Kennedy Center - the economy, the public, the times? No, the problem lies with the management. If you are seeing empty seats night after night at your venue, you don't need to look to an economic model for your predicament; you need to look into a mirror. Instead of incrementally raising ticket prices or justifying their continuance, all organizations should be taking a hard look at cutting ticket prices drastically. Access should be provided to all responsible bloggers and websites in an effort to get the word out. Every possible aspect of the audience experience should be investigated and evaluated - removing or mitigating the negatives while enhancing the positives. Your board of directors should include members of the public - consumer advocates, if you will - not the privileged few. A non-profit, paying no taxes, in financial distress: you all need some disinterested oversight, if not a reality check! Before we can determine the accuracy of your dire assessment (sounds almost like death of the novel), let's see a copy of your annual report posted on your website, with a complete breakdown of assets and expenses certified by a third-party accounting firm.

The number one goal, from a business perspective, for any organization is (or should be) to fill the maximal number of seats for every show. How else will you sell your concessions and merchandise, attract donors, develop an audience base, and stimulate lifelong enthusiasm and love for the arts? Instead of asking donors to fund shows to chase after awards, you should be approaching them for support of your most important member of the arts: the audience. Without us there is no show.