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Eyeing the business of the arts

Art of raising funds for theater, music, museums a tricky thing, groups say

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts and other organizations are working to stay fiscally sound. Staff photo by Nick Daggy

Staff photo by Nick Daggy The Fitton Center for Creative Arts and other organizations are working to stay fiscally sound. Staff photo by Nick Daggy

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Corinne Dersha, who plays Helen Bond, and Jeffrey Miller, who plays Tom Sullivan, practice a scene from the Middletown Lyric Theatre production of 'Fat Pig' during rehearsal at the theater in Middletown recently. Staff photo by Pat Auckerman

PAT AUCKERMAN/MBR Corinne Dersha, who plays Helen Bond, and Jeffrey Miller, who plays Tom Sullivan, practice a scene from the Middletown Lyric Theatre production of 'Fat Pig' during rehearsal at the theater in Middletown recently. Staff photo by Pat Auckerman

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By Eric Robinette, Staff Writer Updated 2:58 PM Friday, March 12, 2010

Charlton Heston once said, “The trouble with movies as a business is that it’s an art, and the trouble with movies as art is that it’s a business.”

That’s the quandary that many arts organizations find themselves in, especially in the tough economy. These organizations exist to bring art to the public, yet somehow must sustain a viable income as well.

It’s not always easy. According to Rick H. Jones, director of the Fitton Center for the Creative Arts in Hamilton, organizations like Fitton tend to struggle even when the economy is good.

“We’re always sort of on the fringe of making it financially,” he said. “If it weren’t for the generosity of people who believe we’re making a difference in the community, a lot of (the organizations) would go belly-up.”

That being the case, Fitton is always looking to expand its offerings to ensure it stays vital to the community. Last year it launched the Fitton Family Fridays series, to bring in kid-friendly entertainers, thereby broadening Fitton’s audience.

Other new offerings include a music and movement class, in which children dance and sing while they learn to match pitch, recognize and clap simple rhythms, develop right-brain skills and inner-ear hearing, according to Jodi Fritsch, Fitton’s director of public relations.

The Fitton Center is also boosting its fund-raising efforts. It extended its annual fund-raising campaign deadline from the end of January to the end of February to be able to reach its $200,000 goal.

“We have a great staff in terms of watching every dollar that goes out of here. We’ve made a more concerted effort to raise more money. We can’t just back off in a corner and cut, cut, cut,” Jones said.

In Middletown, Lyric Theatre has made changes as well, offering more than just your standard three or four plays a year, with many of them featuring the same actors.

This year Lyric Theatre debuted a program called “Theater in the Raw,” which would present spare, stripped-down productions with stories that had challenging themes. The first show was “Fat Pig,” about a man who falls in love with an obese woman and must grapple with the consequences of that.

That particular show featured actors who were new to Lyric Theatre — and that was deliberate, said Charley Shafor, the managing artistic director of Lyric Theatre.

Doing shows with that kind of expanded reach is vital to keeping Lyric Theatre going, he continued.

“We’re seeing how many people from different areas we can get. We’re starting to look at (the company) as more and more of a business. Financially we’re safe. We still have enough community support that we can go (on) from year to year,” Shafor said.

Lyric Theatre is considering still more new programs like a “coffeehouse” show that would allow community members the chance to hear monologues from shows they might not get to see otherwise.

“We’re building up momentum. We’re actually doing better because people are turning to us for less-expensive entertainment. We’re starting to see a percentage of people come in to Middletown to see us,” Shafor said, citing increased audiences from Liberty Twp. and Oxford. He said most shows are  65 to 75 percent sold.

News arts  building a ‘boon’  for Warren County

Officials in Warren County are contemplating an especially big change — the addition of a new arts center building.

Last September, the board of trustees for the Warren County Arts and Culture Center chose the Otterbein Retirement Community on Ohio 741 as the location for this center, which is estimated to cost between $11 million and $14 million.

Still, at this early stage, “nothing is etched in stone — just an idea of a space,” said Liz Ludwig, the administrative assistant for the board of trustees.

“Because of the (feasibility) studies, we have an idea of what’s needed in the area, but it’s all very preliminary,” she said.

Then there’s the question of whether the project is affordable, given the economy.

“Studies have all shown us to move forward. Now it’s just a question of, is the money there? It’s a huge, huge boon for the community, but we just don’t know,” Ludwig said.

Attendance for the center has been estimated at 31,000 a year, with income from shows pegged at $257,000. The operating costs are estimated at $562,000 a year, per early studies.

Contact this reporter at  (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.

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