Fine Arts Are in Survival Mode as Funds Dry Up

In New York, where more than a dozen Broadway shows closed in January, Carnegie Hall pared its schedule by 10%. The Miami City Ballet cut eight of 53 dancers. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra cut musicians' pay 11%.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art this week said it would eliminate 30 positions, postpone a Spanish art exhibit and possibly increase admission fees to deal with a 26% drop in its endowment. In Washington, the Smithsonian Institution has frozen all hiring. Brandeis University sparked an uproar when it announced it would close the Rose Art Museum outside Boston and sell works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and others to fill potential budget gaps.