Everyone Should Experience Live Music
A recession, broken education systems, and struggling families make it more and more challenging to convince donors that the arts are a worthy and important recipient of their philanthropic dollars. In fact, the nonprofit arts sector is struggling to come up with a solid argument that the arts are universally valuable. I recently read an article about this titled “Funding: the state of the art” written for The Art Newspaper by András Szántó. Szántó states that the arts are struggling from a “rhetorical deficit:” Rationales that used to inspire financial support for the arts are no longer relevant (e.g. the “great nation” argument that our cultural life should be equal to Europeans’ wasn’t really valid after World War II, and the “great cities” argument lost steam when local companies went global.) Now, the arts sector is arguing that the arts are valuable because of “great outcomes.” Instead of supporting the intrinsic value of art, this argument positions the arts as a means to an end: Experiencing the arts improves test scores, increases commercial activity, and educates community members about history and culture. However, the “fly in the ointment” (as Szántó says) is that this argument detaches arts advocacy from its own subject: Aren’t there easier ways to achieve the same outcomes? Can’t baseball games, fireworks, and even an impromptu afterschool hopscotch game ultimately do the same things? Don’t these activities also get people out of the house, facilitate connections, and encourage thinking?
At the end of the day, the language used for why the arts are important matters less than the feeling one gets when they experience what a place like The Cedar has to offer. Randall Bourscheidt, President of the New York-based Alliance for the Arts, compares finding support for the arts to a pick-up line at a bar. You could have the wittiest line in the world, but it doesn’t really matter if the object of your affection just isn’t interested. But The Cedar has that allure. There is an atmosphere and a product here that is simply unrivaled. The volunteer that pours beer, the skinny white guy crazy-dancing in the corner, the incredible top-of-the-line sound, the high school kids that actually look interested in something, and the international concert events that draw large communities of immigrants are just a few things that make this place so special. Every event is at best inspiring and at worst a new, interesting experience. It’s all of that which makes The Cedar worthy of your support.
We believe that everyone should have access to these experiences. So I’m focusing our current fundraising efforts on ACCESS: This summer, your donations allow us to expose more people to live music at The Cedar with activities like bringing public school students to concerts, hosting events that are free to the public, and developing engagement strategies for underserved communities. If we can raise $10,000 to support access by September 9th, we’re going to celebrate by making our September 9th season opening event FREE. To follow our progress, go to: thecedar.org/donate. To make a donation, click here. Your support makes our organization viable. Thank you.
