Broadway Blog - No Bailout for the Arts?

Michael Kaiser has written a fantastic piece in the Washington Post that I've been meaning to link up since last year (sorry, couldn't resist the lame joke) ... entitled 'No Bailout for the Arts'. 

Kaiser writes about the current economy's devastating ripple affect onto the arts world, a topic that unfortunately we'll be hearing a lot more about for at least the early part of 2009.

He writes "The arts have historically received short shrift from our political leaders, who all too often seem happy to offer bland endorsements of our work without backing those words with financial appropriations. But the arts in the United States provide 5.7 million jobs and account for $166 billion in economic activity annually. This sector is at serious risk. Because the arts are so fragmented, no single organization's demise threatens the greater economy and claims headlines. But thousands of organizations, and the state of America's arts ecology, are in danger.

We need an emergency grant for arts organizations in America, and we need legislation that allows unusual access to endowments. Washington must encourage foundations to increase their spending rates during this crisis, and we need immediate tax breaks for corporate giving."

Click here for the full piece.