Arts institutions feeling impact of ailing economy
NEW YORK (AP) - April 21, 2008 But rising interest rates brought on by turmoil in the financial
markets boosted payments, and the organization got socked for an
additional $650,000 in fees earlier this year that it hadn't
budgeted for.
Like homeowners and stockholders, arts organizations are feeling
the pinch from the faltering economy.
Museums and symphony halls that financed renovations with
seemingly safe municipal bonds saw interest rates spike in recent
weeks; other arts institutions are suffering from low returns on
investments; and some arts executives are worried that recession
fears could take a bite out of donations and ticket sales.
"What turns my stomach every time I turn on the news is the
current perception of what's happening in our economy and whether
people will get nervous and cut back on their charitable
contributions," said Charles Thurow, executive director of the
Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, which used a $5 million
fundraising campaign to renovate an old Army warehouse in 2006,
creating its first permanent home since the center's start in 1939.
"That would affect our annual operating budget."
In New York and Los Angeles, well-established institutions
including Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and the Getty
Center are scrambling to refinance their debt after interest rates
climbed on so-called auction-rate bonds. The interest on
auction-rate bonds is reset as often as weekly at auctions where
investors set the rate through bidding.
The allure for issuers, including museums, hospitals and
municipalities, has been lower interest rates than is typical of
long-term bonds.
Beginning in February, many of the auctions failed to draw
bidders because the volatile economy was giving investors cold
feet.
"Nobody was willing to buy the bonds," said Donald Elliott,
counsel to New York City's Trust for Cultural Resources, which
advises arts groups on bond issues. "You had in some cases a
failed auction."
When the auctions fail, the interest rate resets to a
pre-established default rate which in some instances can be as high
as 12 percent or 15 percent.
Patricia Woodworth, chief financial officer at the J. Paul Getty
Trust, which operates two museums in Los Angeles, said the shift in
auction bond interest rates - from 3 percent to 9.9 percent - cost
the organization some $650,000 between January and mid-March.
Luckily, the Getty was able to reconfigure its debt into a
one-year bond that brought its interest down to 1.7 percent.
Other institutions have had similar problems, including the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, which borrowed $320 million over
three years to pay for its new Broad Contemporary Art Museum wing
and other construction. But it reached a deal to stem its losses
through an arrangement that brings the county in as an investor.
Then there's Carnegie Hall, which issued $41.6 million in
auction-rate bonds six years ago for construction of Zankel Hall,
one of its three performance venues, and has seen its borrowing
costs rise. Spokeswoman Synneve Carlino said officials there are,
for now, riding out the storm.
"At this stage, there are currently no plans to refinance the
bonds since the increase in our interest rate has been relatively
small and, so far, manageable," she said in an e-mail. "However,
as the bond market is unsettled at this time, we are watching to
see what alternatives develop."
In Madison, Wis., the downturn in the economy is renewing
concerns about the long-term viability of the Overture Center for
the Arts, which was finished after several phases of construction
just two years ago.
A trust fund created to pay back an $87 million construction
bond and a $27 million loan and to pay for long-term facility
improvements has dipped to about $100 million from about $104
million last summer.
That's because its investments have earned less than 3 percent
in the last year instead of the 8.25 percent required to meet its
obligations, said Dana Chabot, treasurer of the Madison Cultural
Arts District, which runs the center.
Overture Center President Tom Carto said the center could face
problems starting in 2013 when expensive maintenance projects will
be required.
"We need to plan for that and make sure we have reserves to
meet those needs in the next 10 or 20 years," he said.
There are similar anxieties at the Joffrey Ballet, which
launched a $35-million capital campaign to cover the $24 million in
costs of acquiring 48,000-square-feet of space in a new skyscraper
in downtown Chicago, said acting executive director Christopher
Clinton Conway.
"We always hope for the best and plan for the worst. We haven't
needed to cut back in any way as we move into the new building, but
we're very carefully watching as to increased expenses," Conway
said. "We're being extra careful and conservative in our budget
for next year."
Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, said the bond market fluctuations
are just one element of the current uncertainty in the economy. He
also cited rising energy prices and the effect of a falling stock
market on endowments.
Kaiser said that if cultural institutions need to cut costs they
should eliminate things like staff training and new computers. He
warned against making drastic cuts in programming.
"In periods of recession arts organizations often overreact,
cutting the wrong expenses and making it more difficult to recover
when the recession ends," he said.
"The focus has to be in creating important art and then
marketing that art in an aggressive way. That's what brings money
into arts organizations."
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Associated Press Writers Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles, Ryan J.
Foley in Madison, Wis. and Tara Burghart in Chicago contributed to
this report.