Arts Groups Lose Out in Fight for Funds

MARCH 18, 2009, The Wall Street Journal — Museums, theaters and operas, already reeling from the recession, are having a tough time attracting support amid perceptions that vital services like soup kitchens and homeless shelters should receive funds first.

Arts organization are retrenching, and in some cases closing, as a result of fewer sales of tickets and merchandise, arts leaders say. They're also seeing fewer donations from individuals and corporations, and cutbacks in government funding. About 10,000 arts organizations, or 10% of the U.S. total, are at risk of folding, according to Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit lobbying group in Washington, D.C.