Cultural Facilities Study Summary

Facilities dominate arts operations to an extent rarely seen in any sector. Arts organizations are three times as asset-intensive as the American steel industry. Their facilities are technically complex, expensive and time-consuming to build and maintain. While appropriate facilities are intrinsic to the health of arts organizations, we treat them as if they were peripheral. This denial means that we spend millions annually--intentionally or not--to build and maintain an enormous asset base without acknowledging or providing for it. We tend to ignore the demands facilities place on artists and arts organizations and their impact over time. The results are costly.