Are essential hubs serving communities, providing essential resources and services that help individuals and families prosper, and offering a venue for people from all backgrounds to come together to discuss, debate and learn from one another. Yet, underserved communities throughout the United States lack the access and opportunities that these institutions offer. By reconfiguring strategies and programs already in place, there are opportunities to improve accessibility to those who need the services of non-profit institutions the most. In this memo, I outline how arts and culture institutions can serve as essential hubs of social mobility in an era of growing socioeconomic inequality by providing access to knowledge and technology regardless of their age, citizenship, status, and educational level. Since arts and culture institutions are catalysts for economic development especially in low-income communities, it is imperative to seek ways to sustain these institutions.
Libraries across the nation offer free essential programs ranging from English classes for immigrants to workforce development classes which provide patrons with necessary financial literacy skills and job search support. In New York City, foreign-born workers constitute 43 percent of the City’s labor force—primarily within the service, hospitality, and construction industries—but on average they earn 20 percent less than their native-born counterparts. Recent U.S. Census data indicates that 22 percent of New York City residents are living below the poverty line. Nearly half of those residents are foreign-born and possess a below-basic literacy level in English. Without an effective means to communicate, it can be nearly impossible for these residents to pursue their education or obtain lucrative employment. Increased educational attainment through participation in arts and culture programs provides workers with the opportunity to obtain higher-skilled and better-paying jobs: This is especially vital to the 72 percent of immigrant New Yorkers who possess less than a bachelor’s degree, according to a recent report by the State Comptroller.
The mission of ensuring equal access to all has always comprised the ethos of art and culture institutions. For instance, various museums in New York City such as The Drawing Center and The Whitney Museum of American Art adopt a pay-what-you-wish policy, allowing patrons to see the vast collection and participate in programs for as little as a penny. There are also programs such as Cool Culture’s Family Pass program which has provided more than 50,000 low-income families free admission and unlimited access to family programs and educational materials in cultural institutions throughout the New York City area. Similarly, public libraries across the United States such as the Olathe Public Library in Kansas and the Phoenix Public Library in Arizona provide free access to participating arts and culture institutions through the Culture Pass program—more recently, the New York Public Library, along with Queens and Brooklyn library systems, have adopted the program providing library card holders with free admission to other cultural institutions across New York City, such as The Guggenheim and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
The demand for more accessible cultural enrichment was evident in the immediate overwhelming response: Patrons made over 5,000 pass reservations in the first three days after the New York City library system’s Culture Pass launched. These programs have made visiting New York City’s world-class museums and cultural institutions an option for residents spanning the socioeconomic spectrum. While undoubtedly successful, the foregoing programs are threatened by declining government funding for institutions across the United States. In this context, support from the private sector can bridge the gap in necessary funds. Historically, the majority of private funding for arts and culture institutions has come from individual donors and foundations. However, in more recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase of private funding through corporate philanthropy in order to align company values and corporate social responsibility with the mission of the arts and culture institutions that they sponsor.
This trend introduces both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, the funds secured through corporate fundraising can immensely help sustain free programs for communities. On the other hand, an ethical issue arises when it comes to accepting money from less reputable corporations: Does the effect of providing money to benefit communities erase the harms wrought by corporate malpractice? By aligning the corporation’s brand with initiatives of the arts and culture institutions, corporations elevate their image and reputation. In addition, corporate funds come with the imperative of corporate visibility, affecting the decision-making process when providing funds to support non-profit institutions. As a result, corporations have little interest in providing support to smaller institutions where visibility can only reach a smaller population. Smaller institutions lack the reach and capacity for prominent logo placements and naming opportunities. This issue is also evident when comparing publicly available financial statements of smaller institutions and larger institutions.
Yet, corporate visibility can trickle down from the most conspicuous logos to more discreet modes of employee engagement. Through this visibility, corporations also incentivize social responsibility by turning employees’ volunteer hours into monies to support employees’ institutions of choice, giving a wider reach and stream of visibility to corporations. This can certainly prove beneficial as employees become advocates for supporting programs and institutions that might not necessarily be of initial interest to corporations. Volunteers see first-hand the importance of non-profit programs for the communities that they serve. Interestingly, the trend in corporate giving tends to lag behind current needs in the community until one corporation becomes the first mover in funding a program. Although there are shortfalls in receiving support through corporate funding, employee volunteerism initiatives are attainable and have a particularly lasting impact in disadvantaged communities.
In a knowledge-based economy, arts and culture institutions are unique positioned to provide equitable and broad educational support and continuity for patrons throughout their lives. For the youngest patrons in underserved communities, these resources are especially vital: By age two, many children are already behind their more affluent peers in listening, vocabulary, counting, and other fundamental literacy skills. The Drawing Center in New York City, for example, provides free educational workshops to youth through the museum’s DRAW and Drawing Connections programs. These initiatives provide an opportunity for on-site and in-school activities free-of-charge. They serve K-12 New York City public school students, fostering visual-thinking skills through hands-on projects and guided tours of the museum’s exhibitions. Similarly, Teens Take The Met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art introduces teens across New York City and surrounding areas to the museum’s renowned collections through art-making and performances, all free-of-charge.
Technology is a powerful and ever-evolving driver of today’s economy and culture. Non-profit institutions across the nation can utilize digital tools to level the playing field for underserved communities preparing patrons to thrive personally, academically, and professionally in the digital age. For example, as e-books grow in popularity, the New York Public Library has taken the lead nationally to ensure e-content is freely available and easy to download. The Library has developed and launched SimplyE, a new free-reader app that enables library cardholders to browse, borrow, and read books from its collections. Digital resources—including nearly 2 million e-books and streaming video of over 30,000 feature films, documentaries, foreign language, and training modules–can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. As a result, for the first time in six years, the Library reversed a national trend of declining library patronage, increasing total circulation by 5 percent and print circulation by 7 percent.
Through free programs like SimplyE, arts and culture institutions can provide a hands-on introduction to critical 21st-century digital tools, building competencies and confidence. Opportunity gaps lead to disparities in individual and community achievement among disadvantaged populations. Yet, access to free programs and services offered by arts and cultural institutions increase the upward mobility of low-income communities by empowering patrons with the necessary tools to thrive in an ever-increasing knowledge-based global economy. These institutions are an irreplaceable part of their communities, serving patrons with an array of tailored resources which play an essential role in countering growing socioeconomic disparities across the United States.
