Five years ago, Caralyn Spector was rummaging through old file cabinets and discovered documents from a handful of museums offering Columbia students free admission. From there, Arts Initiative programming was born.
Today, students receive free admission at 31 New York museums. The Arts Initiative, established by University President Lee Bollinger in 2004, currently encompasses an array of student and alumni programs that work to provide affordable and exclusive access to arts and culture in New York City. But in a country where arts education is often considered expendable in a harsh economic climate, how will the program fare in the wake of the University’s own financial woes?
The Arts Initiative, commonly referred to as CU Arts, has been asked to anticipate a greater budget cut than other University programs. According to director Gregory Mosher, AI operates independently of the endowment and is instead funded directly from the President’s Office budget. So while the Initiative is not affected by the 8 percent decrease in endowment revenue for which Bollinger has asked budget units to plan, it has been asked to anticipate a 10-15 percent cut from its entire budget.
As a result, the Initiative plans to scale back a few staple programs in the coming year. But financial strain has not prevented—and may have even encouraged—Columbia’s students, staff, and alumni to take advantage of AI programs. The Ticket and Information Center recently sold its one hundred-thousandth ticket, the alumni program has seen a 74 percent increase in alumni participation since the beginning of the fiscal year, and AI staff are preparing to launch a new program, ArtsLink, in the fall.
But the Arts Initiative must still find ways to decrease programming expenses. For the past five years, the program has introduced itself to the freshman class by hosting a cultural event in the city during orientation week. For the last two years, this was an exclusive reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Greek and Roman, Egyptian, and African galleries. The AI receives extensive exposure through the event—according to Spector, the current program manager, 1,932 students attended last year. And a student two years ago enjoyed it so much that her family donated $35,000—a substantial portion of the event cost—to the NSOP Cultural Event program.
But despite previous donations, Spector reported that this event will be a casualty of the budget cut. Yet she assured that the event would be replaced with a (presumably less expensive) alternative, because “it is vital for us to introduce ourselves to the incoming class as well as introduce them to the city.”
Some students, like Larhonde Sealey, BC ’09, expressed disappointment that the grand introduction will be scaled back next year. She said that the event introduces students to an urban culture and “lets them know that the museum is available to them.” Sergio Barraza, CC ’12, on the other hand, feels like the Arts Initiative wisely cut the event. “It was so loud. I couldn’t really appreciate the art; honestly, I felt like it could have been done in Lerner,” he said.
Another area that will be affected by the budget cut is the Arts Initiative’s Arts Global program. Already underway in China—along with the opening of Columbia’s global center in Beijing—Arts Global seeks to work with schools and individual artists to help connect cultures with one another. “It will still exist in some form—it just may not be as an ambitious,” Mosher said about the program’s delay.
While the Arts Initiative hasn’t been immune to the harsh economic climate, the Columbia Alumni Arts League has seen an unprecedented increase in participation this fiscal year, according to Arts Initiative associate director for alumni relations and development Malwina Łyś-Dobradin.
CAAL was founded in 2007 to provide alumni with access to the city’s culture. Bollinger and his wife Jean give every member of the graduating class the opportunity to sign up for a free one-year membership to CAAL as a graduation gift. Last year, 3,200 signed up for the membership and 2,400 members of the class of 2009 have already signed up within the first week of this year’s enrollment campaign.
After the complimentary first year, CAAL membership requires a donation of at least $25 and includes discounts and benefits associated with over 60 cultural organizations as well as invitations to CAAL Nights, where the Arts Initiative rents out venues and provides access to special events.
Kristen Sellee, GSAS ’08, is a member of CAAL and said she enjoys attending the program events. As a freelance art journalist in the city, she appreciates the program’s commitment to providing cheap tickets. “I love the e-mails the program sends, but I would use it a lot more if I could purchase tickets online,” she explained.
Arts Initiative leaders ultimately attribute the program’s success to the service it provides. According to Mosher, theater venues want to fill empty seats to create some revenue when ticket sales are down, even if those seats are not at full price. She explained that the TIC and CAAL have been able to continue to provide cheap access to expensive venues because they depend heavily on unsold tickets, Mosher said.
But while the TIC has sold more than 100,000 tickets after little more than a year in existence, and also began to accept Flex last fall, several students are still unsatisfied with the service. Farhana Begum, CC ’11, faulted the TIC for diminishing attendance of campus events, especially those held in Lerner. “They make you buy tickets through the TIC and charge a $.50 processing fee when people are much more likely to come, pay money at the door, and get their hand stamped,” she said.
Budget cuts will also not delay the full launch of new program ArtsLink in the fall. ArtsLink will serve as a mediator between the classroom and the city’s cultural events, attempting to make it easier for professors to incorporate performances and arts events into their curricula. Mosher described ArtsLink as an attempt to further integrate the program into the Columbia community and “move Arts Initiative more directly in the direction of Columbia’s teaching and learning mission.”
While severe budget cuts usually force a program to narrow its focus, Arts Initiative administrators maintain that they have been able to keep its direction, continuing to provide the Columbia community with exclusive access to the arts. As Spector asserted, “We’re going to continue down the path that we’re on now.”