Gotham Gazette Op-Ed: We Need a Full Plan to Save the Arts in New York

By Justin Krebs & Tiffany Rea-Fisher

We may not be Chris Rock, but we are enmeshed in the world of independent arts. As performance practitioners, producers, and non-profit board members (Justin, the founder and Board Chair of The Tank, a 17-year-old performing arts venue committed to tearing down economic barriers to presenting and experiencing new work; Tiffany, a Tank Board Member and Artistic Director of Elisa Monte Dance, a 40-year old Modern dance company committed to creating an inviting, welcoming and forward thinking environment for dance artists) we’ve seen the fate of too many independent venues before and know the juggling act we all do to survive. We’ve also seen how artists—backed by smart public policy—can sustain lives for themselves and art for the public.

So what can the city and/or state do? From grants and loans to small theaters to negotiating with and supporting landlords with non-profit tenants to programs that keep paid staff in their jobs, rather than sending them onto unemployment, to initiatives that care for freelancers and independent contractors who make up so much of our cultural ecosystem, there is no shortage of policy possibilities.