Heart of Art: Protect Nonprofit Status of Arts Groups

Posted on February 02, 2011

John Killacky originally wrote this article for the Burlington Free Press.

The arts are where hope lives. As the economy continues to languish, I have concerns about how the arts will thrive.

The arts, like other nonprofit organizations, are challenged by diminished contributions from government, corporations, foundations, and private donors. Box office and gallery admissions also eroded as discretionary dollars tightened.

In this downward cascading economic environment, last spring legislators decided nonprofit arts groups with annual admissions over $50,000 should begin charging 6 percent sales tax on their tickets effective April 1 of this year. Adding to the expense of a ticket can only worsen the box office malaise.

The money is one issue; the bigger concern is erasing the protected tax status of nonprofit arts organizations. I fiercely believe arts organizations earn their nonprofit status not only through presentations, exhibitions, and screenings, but also through educational and outreach programs.

Each year, the Flynn serves nearly 200,000 people, including 40,000 students statewide through student matinees, classes, workshops, and camps. We also partner with social service agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations, distributing more than 2,000 $2 ticket vouchers.

All of this is subsidized by donations. This is our mission, our double bottom line: making the arts accessible and serving those less fortunate. A triple bottom line is achieved when the changed lives of those we reach further contribute to society.

Children and marginalized communities often find their first voice through cultural expression. Arts education accommodates different learning styles. Not every child is a linear learner; many need kinesthetic or visual paths to build from. If English is not your first language, the arts are crucial in building confidence and communication tools.

Through the arts, we learn to work in an ensemble, as a soloist, or in the chorus. Improvisation illustrates how group process can be superior to solo problem solving. The discipline, training, and never-ending aspiration to be better give one a wonderful perspective in life.

In the arts, we come together to share, witness, and celebrate - building a shared sense of community. The role artists play in creating metaphor, defining space (real and imagined), commemorating losses and victories, and articulating the unconscious must be valued. Arts organizations often create a safe space for unsafe ideas, an essential role in our profane world.

The intellectual, creative, and social capital the arts bring to the vitality of Vermont cannot be underestimated. Entrepreneurial innovation fuels the state's economy, but can there be a sustainable future without creativity? Nonprofit arts organizations anchor downtowns and small towns. Diverse cultural offerings are an asset to business recruitment and retention of employees.

Last year, the Flynn employed 234 folks (full and part-time), paying $2,107,101 in wages. Main Street Landing's commissioned study, "The Economic Footprint of the Arts in Vermont," detailed that 4,342 people are directly employed in the arts statewide. These are real people working within an extremely fragile arts economy; their labor benefits all citizens of Vermont.

Legislators and policy makers might consider the lost jobs in this sector with short-term decision-making. Further, with fewer ticket sales, factor in revenue lost from hotels, restaurants and parking that serve arts audiences; then multiply this statewide. Any tax gain, estimated by the Tax Department at $600,000 annually, quickly diminishes.

Representatives Clarkson, Olsen, and Wizowaty introduced bipartisan legislation to restore the protected tax status of nonprofit arts organizations. I applaud their far-sighted efforts during these challenging economic times. The arts are integral to a civil society, working alongside partners in human and social services, libraries, affordable housing, and education. Indeed, the arts are necessary for Vermonters to lead hopeful expressive lives.