THE BIG STORY
Culture in Cr isi s
Milwaukee boasts a robust and diverse performing arts sector. But can we afford to sustain it? By RICH ROVITO
A
ttending a live performance is a wonderful way to spend an evening. And in our city, we have the luxury of many different options to choose from, including the symphony, Rep, the Florentine and the ballet. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed audience habits, not just here but across the nation. Audiences are significantly smaller than they were pre-2020. And the decrease in ticket sales has contributed to a tipping point for Milwaukee’s performing arts organizations, which were already competing for limited financial resources. “After the pandemic, as organizations have spent down the liquidity and cash reserves that they had, they started figuring out that there is a weakening of private philanthropy,” says Milwaukee Repertory
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Theater Executive Director Chad Bauman. “This is where public [i.e., government] support should be coming in, and it’s not.” This fiscal year, Wisconsin ranked 49th per capita in terms of state funding for the arts, a statistic that has become a rallying cry among arts advocates. With a lack of public funds, organizations are heavily reliant on corporate and private giving. The post-pandemic erosion of ticket revenue has exacerbated the situation. A new path forward, fresh partnerships and studying successful efforts in other cities are among the suggestions to buoy the performing arts and culture sector in Milwaukee in a recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum titled “Curtain Time,” which examines the longtime challenges facing Milwaukee’s performing arts groups.
UNSUSTAINABLE NEED
Commissioned by the Northwestern Mutual and Herzfeld foundations and Bader Philanthropies, “Curtain Time” analyzes the finances of six “cornerstone” members of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) and seven regular members for which historical data is available. “Philanthropic leaders have been very supportive of the arts, the performing arts in particular,” says Rob Henken, former president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, who worked on the report and remains with the organization focusing on policy-related work. But philanthropy cannot sustain the increased demand. The share of performing arts groups’ budgets ILLUSTRATION BY PAULA SCHULTZ