When Does This Art Expire?

University of Iowa Performing Arts Entrepreneurship Professor, David McGraw wrote a very interesting opinion article for the Iowa City Press Citizen about the expiration date of arts organizations.  He mentioned our society’s habit of confusing age with quality, how we are more likely to support an organization that has been around longer, and our refusal to let organizations close their doors quietly.  Mr. McGraw suggests creating arts organizations with expiration dates - an organization would be created with the sole purpose of creating art and ending at a specific date.  Mr. McGraw described such organizations as collaborations that focus on the celebration of art being created rather than the longevity of the organization. While I am not completely sold on this idea, I do think it has some merit.

As we've been discussing the supply and demand of the arts market, I can see where projects like this may be beneficial.  Having a set amount of time an arts organization is going to exist creates a sense of scarcity and urgency.  Also, people love projects -- we like to feel like we belong to something.  If we look at such community art oriented projects such as Cincinnati ArtsWave's "Paint the Street" initiative, we can see how successful events like this can be, at least in their first year.  Additionally, projects that do not have the intent to last forever appear to be more malleable.  These expiration date arts organizations can also be designed to fill specific needs within a community. The influx of new and different initiatives could really benefit a community.

However, I would like to address Mr. McGraw’s concern with our society’s inability to let longstanding organizations close their doors quietly.  Whether we realize it or not, we have a relationship with the arts and the organizations that produce them.  No one likes to see a relationship end, which makes it so difficult to let go of an organization we’ve been familiar with for so long.  Arts organizations that plan to exist for only a few years remind me of the short dating trysts so popular in romantic comedies called a "fling".  People go into the fling knowing it’s going to end soon, but eventually someone starts to have lasting feelings.  Someone always ends up getting hurt.  While the characters in a romantic comedy always seem to conveniently resolve their issues and fall madly in love with each other and live happily ever after, I don't think I can say the same about the arts and the community.  I cannot accurately say who will be hurt one in this situation.  Perhaps it’s the community because there is suddenly a void of the arts.  Maybe it's patrons who have come to enjoy, maybe even love, the work the organization created.  It could be the managers and artists who are suddenly out of job, forced to create another similar organization or move to a new city, away from their supportive community.

Who’s funding these short-term organizations?  Donors like to know where their money is going and how the company is being affected.  The minds of donors are put more at ease when giving to an organization that has been operating for long time because they know the company is sustainable.  Donors know there is a relationship between the community and the organization.  On a more egocentric note, donors like to a part of the legacy.  They like to see their names in programs and receive the benefits promised for their certain levels of donation.  If an organization only plans to exist for five years, it may be a lot harder to find people to give money.

Maybe in the future, when the economy is better and money is more plentiful, we can have these short-term organizations interspersed with longstanding organizations.  However, I don’t think this is a sustainable model at this present time.