Arts organizations struggle to stay afloat after being swamped by flood, recession

First came the recession. Then came the flood of June 2008.

The one-two punch has forced Eastern Iowa's cultural community to stretch even farther than the shrinking dollar in patrons' pockets as the organizations struggle to stay afloat.

Many cultural groups join the push for end-of-year charitable donations, but in reality, fundraising is a way of life for the non-profit sector.

“It's ongoing; it never stops,” said Terry Pitts, 60, of Cedar Rapids, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. “We do two (donor solicitations) at the end of the year. One at the end of the real calendar year, when many people give for tax reasons, but we also do another push in June,” at the end of the museum's fiscal year.

In many ways, it's still a new world as the area's cultural entities enter another year in new or renovated locations.

“We're still trying to figure out what our new normal is,” said Casey Prince, 33, of Cedar Rapids, executive director at Theatre Cedar Rapids, which returned to its renovated home in the Iowa Theatre Building in February. “It will take a full year to figure out what our utilities will be. We've been reminded what snow removal is. There's still a little bit of new here and there.”

The show goes on

Hancher has been on the road since the Iowa River swept through the University of Iowa's cultural showplace in June 2008. Its world-class performances have been staged throughout the state and will continue on that path until a new facility in a new location opens in 2015 in Iowa City.

“We've learned to approach our work in a different way,” Chuck Swanson, Hancher's executive director, said from his relocated office at UI's Seashore Hall.

“We've become a lot more creative in how we present our work. ... I've been here 25 years, and this is a totally different way to approach the work than I've ever seen,” said Swanson, 57, of Coralville. “Part of it is the fact that we've got to think of other venues - where we present these great performances and the ways of making these performances happen in these venues.”

The Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City has been one of the primary venues for Hancher concerts post-flood.

“Since we were not physically affected by the flood, we became a haven for the University of Iowa, and specifically Hancher, to do a few of their shows. We're totally happy to work with them,” said Englert Executive Director Andre Perry, 33, of Iowa City. “ ... Given that the flood was such a drastic and terrible event, we're happy to work with these organizations and let their programs continue.”

For Orchestra Iowa, displaced from the flood-ravaged Paramount Theatre in downtown Cedar Rapids, the line between the challenges are blurred.

“It's kind of hard to tell what is recession-based and what is still a flood-recovery mode,” said Robert Massey, the orchestra's executive director. “What we have seen post-flood ... is a rather substantial decrease in subscription season ticket sales.”

That was expected, he said, and so Orchestra Iowa took the show on the road.

“(The Iowa City series) has grown from zero to 500 members per show. We've taken it to Decorah, Elkader, Mason City - places that might not have the chance to hear an orchestra,” said Massey, 40, who moved to Cedar Rapids from Washington just two weeks before the floods hit.

The natural disaster has forced orchestra staff to “think outside the box,” Massey said. “(Concerts at) Brucemore and Veterans Memorial Stadium are two of the most successful things we've done. We're doing more with smaller ensembles; we're thinking economically conscious.”

Mind the bottom line

Even the groups that didn't have their doors knocked down by the raging Cedar and Iowa rivers have been treading uncertain waters.

All are businesses, striving to enhance the quality of life in the region, while employing artists, administrators, designers, musicians, directors, curators, crew members, educators and support staff who will, in turn, pay rent or mortgages, buy food and clothes, pay for utilities and otherwise pump their earnings into the local economy.

Operating budgets range from $300,000 at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center in Maquoketa to $2.2 million for Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City and $2.8 million for Orchestra Iowa. Several hover around the million-dollar mark, including the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Brucemore and Theatre Cedar Rapids. More are in the half-million-dollar range.

They're grateful for all the help that has come their way but worry about donor fatigue and funding sources that may be diverted in other directions.

Many of the Cedar Rapids cultural non-profits are anxiously awaiting the City Council's allocation of hotel/motel tax funds for fiscal 2012, which go toward operational expenses and retiring bonded building debt. Rumors are rippling that allocations may be cut by 50 percent or more, as hotel/motel funds are channeled toward the new $75.6 million convention complex.

Jen Neumann, 38, of Cedar Rapids, is chairwoman of the hotel/motel tax allocation committee, which makes recommendations to the city manager and City Council, who will make the final decisions this winter.

Neumann said the pot is about the same for 2012 as it was for 2011 - $2.5 million - but the reality is that a chunk of funds are expected to be diverted to the convention center, leaving less for the arts, cultural and recreation groups.

“No matter what, there are going to be reductions over previous allocations, and there's probably not a lot (the requesting groups) can do about it,” she said. “They should spend some time talking to the City Council about how important arts, culture and recreation are, but they should also work together to raise the cap on funding at the state level. They have one (legislative) session to get this done.”

She knows making up any shortfall will be hard for the cultural and recreational entities.

“While reductions in allocations are looking to be somewhat significant, we're not zeroing everybody out,” Neumann said. “We've worked really hard to get fair allocations to everybody. It's painful. I wish it was one of those years when we're flush with money, but we're not. We have a post-flood reality.”

In preservation mode

That reality has sent the arts organizations into preservation mode. From slashing budgets to freezing wages, all are looking for ways to cope with economic downturns.

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art recently shortened its gallery hours. The flooded African American Museum of Iowa, which reopened two years ago in Cedar Rapids, is operating with seven full-time staff members instead of nine. Riverside Theatre in Iowa City has kept all its staff members, but they didn't take raises this past year.

“Our challenges are not unique,” said Ron Clark, Riverside's resident artist and production manager. “Ticket sales are pretty flat all over. People are watching their dollars, and you can't really blame them for that.”

He said the recession affects how much effort has to go into fundraising.

“It's incumbent on the arts leaders to avoid a reactionary ‘let's just hunker down, and we'll get through this' attitude,” said Clark, 60, of Iowa City, who co-founded the small, professional performance troupe 30 years ago. “We have to be proactive. We're an essential part of the cultural community. ...It's up to us to find affordable ways to get them into the theater.”

Wherever that might be.

Theatre Cedar Rapids created a performance space from scratch in a vacant building at Lindale Mall shortly after floodwaters rose through the basement and over the stage downtown. More than 500 people stood in amazement as the community theater troupe unveiled its rejuvenated home space on Feb. 26.

Necessity can be creative

The Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, which had called Theatre Cedar Rapids its home for nearly a decade, is returning there with “Tosca” on Jan. 14 and 16. Executive Director Daniel Kleinknecht couldn't be happier and, like so many others, has found the silver lining in a most difficult situation.

“In an odd way, it's forced us to grow in other ways,” said Kleinknecht, 50, of Coralville. “It was very challenging to move our productions to different cities. We've done videos of two productions with Iowa Public Television. I'm not sure we would have had the courage to do those if we hadn't had to do so out of necessity. It's forced us to work in a different way and be creative in a completely different situation and venues.”

Two smaller organizations that already had taken hard hits in hard times are rebounding.

Volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to help save the financially strapped Iowa City Community Theatre and put it back on track.

“We're actually doing a lot better this year than at this time last year,” said board President Kehry Lane, 33, of Iowa City. “The situation improved primarily due to a lot of volunteer intervention.”

The troupe saved money and pumped up profits by staging a concert version of “South Pacific” in August and will be doing the same with “My Fair Lady” on Friday and Saturday. The run of “Cinderella” was extended this past holiday season, and fundraising, publicity efforts and discounts have been ramped up to shore up the bottom line.

The Carl & Mary Koehler History Center in Cedar Rapids also has been bouncing back after shutting down for part of 2006 and reopening with an all-volunteer staff, until Executive Director Melanie Alexander was hired about a year and a half ago.

“We've been stable for several years and growing slowly,” said Alexander, 35, of Solon. “We've just added a part-time education position, so we now have two full-time staff and six part-time staff.

“We're stable, but there's always a need to continue to fundraise. That job never stops.”