ArtsVan
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Artist's
concept of ArtsVan by Marilynn Hawkridge. ArtsVan logo by Jane Schiowitz.
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"It’s
a time honored tradition in the theatre: "TAKE THE SHOW ON THE ROAD."
If the audience doesn’t come to you – go to the audience. Perhaps this
is why DowntownNYC! appeals to me. This is New Yorkers helping New Yorkers."
Beverly Petty, Associate
Director, La MaMa Experimental Theater Clubb
"This part of Manhattan
is still suffering business-wise from 9/11 with the commercial businesses
off between 25% to 30% over last year, ArtsVan would go a long way in
helping our neighborhood stores & the entire Downtown business community."
Honi
Klein, Executive Director, The Village Alliance, a Business Improvement
District
DEMONSTRATING THE NEED FOR ARTS VAN
BENEFITS TO THE DOWNTOWN ECONOMY
EXAMPLES OF THE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS TO BE SERVED
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST VEHICLE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ARTS VAN
Is this for discount tickets only?
How will ArtsVan be publicized?
How can organizations get a sales report?
Must organizations use the ticketing service to get their promotional materials on the truck?
DowntownNYC! Board of Directors, Advisory Board and Staff
Information for donors: how to make a tax-deductable contribution
APPENDIX A: SELECTIONS FROM ARTSVAN'S LETTERS OF ENDORSEMENT
APPENDIX B: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS TO NEW YORK CITY'S ECONOMY
PHASE 1: First Year -- Limited Initial Operations
PHASE 2: Second Year -- Costs for Ongoing Operations
Dear Friend:
The sad events of 9/11 made me wonder what my role could be in helping this great City get back on her feet again. I started to get an idea on September 20, 2001 when NYC's Commissioner of Cultural Affairs at the time, Schuyler Chapin, addressed a meeting of theater administrators at the American Airlines Theater to define our role in the City's recovery.
The meeting challenged us, as theater producers, to serve our city like the London Theaters did during the blitz of World War II: giving hope to a whole city struggling through its most difficult time.
Inspired with a renewed sense of mission, I became an activist for the first time in my life. I am by occupation a press agent, working before and after 9/11 mostly in Lower Manhattan. So I had a front row seat to witness how the attacks had devastated both the theater community and surrounding businesses.
Theaters were empty. Tourists had stopped coming. People were hiding at home. Actors and technicians were being laid off. The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, built to entertain, was a staging area for rescue workers. Galleries were empty. Even New Year's Eve parties were strangely silent as musicians went unemployed.
With a group of committed New Yorkers, I helped to form DowntownNYC! to generate goodwill, boost business, and rally the spirits of all who work and live Downtown. Then as now, it is paramount to get word out about what Downtown has to offer. And that is why I created ArtsVan. Downtown Manhattan is the most powerfully creative district in the world. With ArtsVan, we can open the door for new and exciting arts events and generate a world of joy for New Yorkers and tourists alike. In doing so, we will kick-start our local economy through our creative economy.
I'm reaching out for advice, expertise and financial support.
And as Ellen Stewart, La MaMa herself, says in her curtain speeches, "If you like what we are doing, please tell a friend.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Slaff,
Chairman, DowntownNYC!
DOWNTOWN NYC! has come up with a unique idea. It’s called ArtsVan, a traveling box office and cultural kiosk. Until now, there has never been a district-wide program to capture Downtown tourists and channel them into local theaters and other cultural attractions. Uptown has TKTS, run by the Theatre Development Fund, but when it comes to the 250 organizations in our database there is no guide, no information booth, no Moviefone –nothing!
ArtsVan’s goals are:
- To support the Downtown creative economy
- To channel tourists and visitors to the District’s theaters and other cultural attractions.
- To stimulate Downtown revitalization.
- To introduce Downtown’s theater and arts groups to a broader audience.
- To boost revenues for these organizations by increasing their audience size.
ArtsVan will support Downtown theater productions, museums, gallery shows, music and dance performances and promote the Lower East Side Shopping District, the Little Italy Dining District and the Chinatown Shopping, Dining and Jewelry Districts.
ArtsVan plans to accomplish this by:
- Putting one or more ArtsVans at regular locations Downtown
- Becoming a central box office for all of Downtown New York’s art events so that tickets can be purchased there much like TKTS services Broadway
- Interfacing with existing ticketing services through Wi-Fi Technology
- Mobilizing a trained staff of culturally hip and friendly people to assist visitors so that the face of Downtown will be a friendly one
- Providing neighborhood maps, guides, brochures and announcements
- Generating publicity for Downtown’s arts organizations
- Displaying Downtown arts events information
- Packaging tickets to the arts with "zoned promotions," in order to direct audience members to nearby dining, shopping, parking and community tourism attractions
- Offering money-saving co-promotions between Downtown arts organizations and surrounding businesses, including cooperative ticketing, discount vouchers and shopping discounts.
Downtown NYC!, Inc. is a fiscally sponsored organization of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. It is organized and operated for the charitable purpose of enriching Downtown New York by strengthening the local creative economy and helping to revitalize communities affected by the 9/11 attacks, using strategies that rely on the arts as a catalyst for economic recovery and positive physical and social change.
These strategies include:
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Making arts institutions and arts events in distressed areas more accessible.
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Promoting the growth of performing arts programming.
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Generating opportunities for artists
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Facilitating the expansion and success of culturally related commerce
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Attracting visitors to cultural events in distressed neighborhoods.
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Stimulating tourism and commerce premised on arts related and/or architectural assets.
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Using the arts as a leverage to bring new opportunities to residents of distressed communities while concurrently enriching these areas with enhanced cultural vitality.
ArtsVan is aimed at the "Downtown or Downtown in spirit." It will serve Lower Manhattan with a strong initial focus on Ground Zero, the financial district, South Street Seaport, City Hall-Park Row, Battery Park City, Battery Park, Chinatown, TriBeCa, the East and West Village, and the "Near North" of Union Square and Chelsea. Populations served will include tourists, residents and workers in these areas. ArtsVan will benefit these constituents as well as artists, performers, theaters and arts organizations in the Lower Manhattan community.
We hope that if our program is successful, it may eventually "roll out" to other areas of the City, where it may help revitalize other distressed communities by strengthening the creative economies there.
History and Accomplishments
DowntownNYC! was formed on November 8, 2001 by leaders of Downtown theaters and arts organizations to foster recovery of Lower Manhattan after 9/11. Our first major event was on November 30, 2001, just two months after 9/11. Downtown NYC! organized a gathering in Washington Square Park featuring Petula Clark singing her hit song, Downtown, in honor of all of the artists and performers Downtown. The event drew more than 1,000 attendees and sent a message that the Downtown arts community was still vital and ready for business in spite of 9/11. The event generated a lot of good will among residents and sent a positive message to tourists to feel "safe" in the knowledge that the arts in Lower Manhattan would remain a strong and creative force.
In February 2002, DowntownNYC!, through its Government Outreach Committee, sponsored and published a "Snapshot Survey" of the economic impact of 9/11 on the business and arts community, particularly on small theaters. This survey of 44 organizations gave New York policymakers their first, highly focused picture of economic loss and job loss in the arts community post-9/11. (News clippings enclosed in Appendix D.)
On November 30, 2002, DowntownNYC! followed up its original survey of the arts community with a more exhaustive report, "Artists One Year Later: Survey of 9/11’s Economic Impact on Individual Artists."
DowntownNYC conducted this report! on behalf of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in conjunction with the Consortium for Worker Education. NYFA contributed funding for the project. The report has received widespread recognition and appreciation and is now considered a touchstone work in the planning for post-9/11 recovery and rebuilding of the Downtown arts community. (Full report available on-line at www.jsnyc.com/report22.htm.)
Incorporation and Nonprofit Statusb
Downtown NYC!, Inc. is a fiscally sponsored organization of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (http://www.lmcc.net). Prior to March 2003, the organization was a volunteer working coalition and cooperative effort among theaters, arts organizations, performing groups, civic groups, elected officials and businesses.
Downtown NYC! Inc. is now incorporated in the State of New York under Section 402 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law and is currently in the process of applying for its 501(c) (3) status. Until that status is awarded, all gifts and funding support will be channeled through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
DEMONSTRATING THE NEED FOR ARTS VAN
KEY FINDINGS FROM OUR RESEARCH
*Only 10% of patrons of Downtown businesses and arts organizations are tourists.
*33% of organizations surveyed agree that people are unaware of Downtown offerings.
*47% of Downtown organizations surveyed reported having made layoffs since 9/11. 44% of part-time workers and 22.5% of full-time workers were laid off.
*Four out of five artists of all disciplines suffered income loss directly tied to the 9/11 attacks.
*22% of artists of all disciplines became unemployed as a direct result of the attacks.
*Artists of all disciplines experienced an average drop in earnings of 46% as a direct result of the 9/11 attacks.
*Half of artists surveyed reported spending 40% of their savings in the year since 9/11.
*Nearly one-third of the respondents applied for some form of public or private disaster aid.
*Over one-third of respondents reported September 11th related health problems.
*Four out of Five respondents rated their prospects of finding work as "Fair" or "Poor."
From: "Snapshot Survey of Economic Loss and Job Loss of the Downtown Community following the 9/11 Attacks," Government Outreach Committee of DowntownNYC!, March 2002 and "Artists One Year Later: Survey of 9/11's Economic Impact on Individual Artists in NYC," by the Government Outreach Committee of DowntownNYC!, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and Consortium For Worker Education (CWE), October 2002. See details on these surveys in attachments at end of this business plan.
BENEFITS TO THE DOWNTOWN ECONOMY
ArtsVan's program of cross-promotions, discounts and sponsorships will ensure that the Downtown business community will also benefit from its arts-related ticketing and promotion efforts. Industry analyses by respected agencies have cited the considerable impact of Off-Broadway audiences on the local economy.
According to a 1995 survey by A.R.T. New York, 73% of people attending Off-Broadway performances also dine out, and spend an average of $35.10. Seven percent spend an average of $38.10 purchasing merchandise in stores located in the general area of the theaters.
Arts dollars are an extremely productive force in the economy. In 1993, according to The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Alliance for the Arts, New York City Partnership, Partnership for New Jersey, the operating support to the non-profit arts from New York City and other local governments totaled $155 million, yet the taxes generated just from personal and sales taxes totaled $325 million.
EXAMPLES OF THE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS TO BE SERVED
The New York Shakespeare Festival
Founded by Joseph Papp, this is the organization which gave us "A Chorus Line," "For Colored Girls.." and many more.
The Wooster Group/Performing Garage
This cutting edge performance space, founded by Willem Dafoe and Elizabeth LeCompte, has garnered worldwide attention. Since the early 1970s, The Wooster Group has played a pivotal role in bringing technically sophisticated and evocative uses of sound, film, and video into the realm of contemporary theater. "The Wooster Group is speaking the language that the theatre will speak fifteen to twenty years from now." -- Peter Sellars, The Director's Voice
LaMaMa E.T.C.
Hailed as the Birthplace of the Off-Off Broadway movement, LaMaMa was the original producer of Blue Man Group's "Tubes," among others. La MaMa Experimental Theatre is a world-renowned cultural organization led by founder Ellen Stewart. For 41 years, La MaMa has passionately pursued its original mission to develop, nurture, support, produce and present new and original performance work by artists of all nations and cultures. Its vast list of distinguished alumni includes Bette Midler, Andrei Serban, Harvey Feirstein, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Elizabeth Swados and Andre De Shields. La MaMa is justifiably called "theater of the world," having been the American entry point for such renowned international directors as Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowsky and Tadeusz Kantor.
New York Theater Workshop
A remarkable Off-Broadway theater noted for its acclaimed and innovative productions. The original producer of "Rent"
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum
New York's restored tenement apartment building, shows the ways families of different eras and ethnicities lived soon after their arrival in America. This museum examines urban immigrant and migrant life on New York's Lower East Side.
The New Museum of Contemporary Art
Founded in 1977 and located at 583 Broadway, the New Museum of Contemporary Art is the premier contemporary art museum in New York City and among the most important internationally.
Museum of Chinese in the Americas
The Museum of Chinese in the
Americas (MoCA) is the first full-time, professionally staffed museum
dedicated to reclaiming, preserving, and interpreting the history and
culture of Chinese and their descendants in the Western Hemisphere.
Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives is the first film museum exclusively devoted to the film as an art. What are the essentials of the film experience? Which films embody the heights of the art of cinema? The creation of Anthology Film Archives has been an ambitious attempt to provide answers to these questions; the first of which is physical -- to construct a theater in which films can be seen under the best conditions; and second critical -- to define the art of film in terms of selected works which indicate its essences and parameters.
The Knitting Factory
The entry point for cutting-edge musical artists into the New York jazz, cultural and pop scene. From jazz to Indie Rock to Multi-Culti, it’s all found at this seething, funky yet dazzling complex on Leonard Street in TriBeCa.
The Flea Theater
Located just below Canal Street in TriBeCa, The Flea Theater is home base of The Bat Theatre, the ensemble run by artistic director Jim Simpson. After several successful seasons, the theatre’s existence was threatened when audiences stopped going Downtown after 9/11. It bounced back with a new production, "The Guys," Anne Nelson’s drama about the impact of 9/11 on the New York Fire Department. With a rotating cast of stars, "The Guys" ran for a year and was made into a feature film starring Sigourney Weaver (Simpson's wife) and Anthony LaPaglia.
Henry Street Theater
Their Harry De Jur Playhouse seats 350 people and is a proscenium theater. The theater is part of The Henry Street Settlement, which was founded in 1893 by Lillian Wald to help build better lives for the inhabitants of Manhattan's Lower East Side. Today it is a comprehensive center for social services of all kinds. The legendary Woody King heads this multi-disciplinary arts center, renowned for its comprehensive arts-in-education programming.
P.S. 122
P.S.122 is a major contributor to the cultural life of NYC and has achieved national and international recognition as one of this country's most important and innovative alternative presenting organizations. It boasts two theaters with presentation programs of dance, performance, music, film, and video, professional technical and administrative staffs, a national touring program, an active commission program, dance and movement improvisational sessions and workshops, low-cost rehearsal space, and video and photo documentation services.
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Located in Battery Park City, The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust--opened to the public in September 1997. Its mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the 20th century Jewish experience before, during, and after the Holocaust. Also additional Battery Park destinations: Castle Clinton, The Museum of Women, others.
National Museum of the American Indian
Located at One Bowling Green, at the foot of Broadway, The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian Museum is dedicated to all aspects of Native American life, including their arts, history, language and literature with a collection spanning more than 10,000 years of heritage. It is housed in the former U.S. Customs House, designed by architect Cass Gilbert.
Museum for African Art
Located at 593 Broadway, Formerly known as the Center for African Art, the Museum is one of only two museums of its kind in the country, devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary African art. The Museum curates several top notch exhibitions per year, each exploring aspects of Africa's artistic traditions and cultural heritage.
Arts Organizations in the "Near North"
Dance Theater Workshop
Now operating in a new, state-of-the-art facility on West 17trh Street, DTW is one of the most influential performing arts centers in the United States. Its alumni include: Mark Morris, David Gordon, Bill T. Jones, Susan Marshall, Ron Brown, Donald Byrd, H.T. Chen, David Dorfman, Doug Elkins, Molissa Fenley, Whoopi Goldberg, Janie Geiser, Bill Irwin, LadyGourd Sangoma, Ralph Lemon, Bebe Miller, Michael Moschen, David Parsons, Lenny Pickett, Merián Soto, Pepón Osorio and Paul Zaloom. Complementing its active sponsorship programs, each year DTW provides nearly 40 comprehensive promotional, administrative and technical services to over 500 artists and small companies through its Artist Services program.
The Kitchen
Beginning in 1971 in an unused kitchen of the Mercer Arts Center, this hotbed of multi-arts activity is now located in a former icehouse at 512 West 19th Street which houses two of the largest black box theaters in the country. Over the years, The Kitchen has helped foster the careers of Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Eric Bogosian, David Byrne with The Talking Heads, Robert Longo, Peter Greenaway, Dana Reitz, Meredith Monk, Brian Eno, John Lurie, Elizabeth Streb, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, Vernon Reid and Jenny Holzer, among others.
The Pit--People's Improvisational Theater
The PIT, selected as having the Best Improv Lessons in NYC by New York Magazine, is located at 154 W 29th St. in Chelsea. Other Chelsea improv luminaries include Gotham City Improv and Upright Citizens Brigade. They all host other, smaller companies as well. Their programming includes a dazzling mixture of crowd-pleasers, from long-form improvisational works to sketch comedy, scripted plays and improvisational training.
Repertorio Español
Repertorio Español, a national treasure, is located in the Gramercy Arts Theatre, was founded in 1968 by producer Gilberto Zaldivar and Artistic Director René Buch to introduce the best of Latin American, Spanish and Hispanic-American theatre in distinctive, quality productions, and to bring theatre to a broad audience in New York City and across the country, including seniors, students and Hispanics of all national backgrounds. This much-honored company is unmatched by any other Spanish language theatre company in the United States.
WHO SUPPORTS US
DowntownNYC!’s ArtsVan has been planned with generous support and counsel from:
*New York City Borough President C. Virginia Fields
*New York City Council Member Alan Gerson (Chair of the Downtown Redevelopment Committee)
Our Survey on the Economic Impact of 9/11 upon NYC artists has been publicly endorsed by:
*Ed Ott, Director of Public Policy, New York Central Labor Council
*Antonio Perez, President, Borough of Manhattan Community College
*Bill Moriarty, Local 802, American Federation of Musicians
*Jim Brown, the Actors Fund
*NYC Arts Coalition
ArtsVan, our latest and most visible project, has been endorsed by a large variety of arts organizations such as:
*The NY Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater
*The Village Alliance/Eighth Street Business Improvement District
*The New Museum
*Theater for the New City
*Theater for a New Audience
*La MaMa E.T.C.
*The Klemzer Mountain Boys
*Martin Entertainment, producer of "Naked Boys Singing"
*Drama Department
*Theatreworks USA
*Bon Bock Productions
*P.S. 122
*Aquila Theatre Company
*The Subjective Theatre Company
Excerpts from endorsement letters can be found in Appendix A.
Our "Month of Sundays" initiative, a tourist promotion, was endorsed during the fall of 2001 by:
*Alliance of Resident Theaters NYC
*Lower East Side Business Improvement District
*Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce
*Village Alliance
*NYC Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Schuyler Chapin
*Hon. Deborah Glick, NYS Assembly member
*Arts and Entertainment Task Force of the Streaming Media Alliance
*Community Boards 1, 2 and 3.
The initiative aimed to promote holiday shopping Downtown by waiving Sunday parking meter charges below 14th Street.
To achieve its mission, ArtsVan must excel at developing and maintaining partnerships on different levels. These include community-based organizations, local employers, trade groups and regional tourist promotion agencies. We intend to work in active collaboration with the following organizations to develop special events, marketing strategies and arts-business promotions at the community level:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (our fiscal sponsor)
Wall Street Rising
Asian American Business Development Council
Alliance for Downtown New York
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
TriBeCa Organization
Lower East Side Business Improvement District
Theater Development Fund
Alliance of Resident Theaters New York
Dance Theater Workshop
Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
Little Italy Merchants Association
Community Boards 1, 2 and 3
The success of our business model also depends on the application of new technologies to the Downtown ticketing market. Ticketing in mobile locations has been made possible by two developments: the widespread adoption of Internet-based ticketing by arts organizations and Downtown attractions, and the possibility of interfacing with the ticketing companies through the wireless Internet. We will be working in active collaboration with the following technology providers:
Downtown Alliance's Wi-Fi Network
New York City's Downtown Alliance has turned to modern technology--Wi-Fi "hotspots"--to lure business to one of the oldest business districts. This summer, the Alliance has activated public 802.11-compliant public network nodes to give away high-speed wireless Internet access at: City Hall Park, Bowling Green Park, Rector Park, Liberty Plaza Park, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Part at 55 Water Street and South Street Seaport. A seventh location within the Alliance's coverage area--roughly from City Hall to the Battery, from the East River to West Street--is yet to be established, but the coverage is being billed as the largest free wireless zone in the country. The 'hotspots' are being built and maintained by the wireless networks consulting firm Emenity, which is a spin-off of the non-profit NYC Wireless community group. NYC Wireless was among the pioneers of open wireless 'hotspots' in public spaces throughout the New York region.
Verizon
Verizon is in the process of upgrading more than 200,000 pay phones in Manhattan to create 802.11b-compliant network nodes for its high-speed subscribers. This will enable ArtsVan ticketing to operate far and wide around the City beyond the initial Downtown zone. There are 150 Verizon hotspots now active, with 1,000 access spots to be established in the City by year's end. The first hotspots are in busy neighborhoods, including: the Upper East and Upper West Sides, Columbia University, Midtown, Union Square, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village/NYU, Wall Street and Battery Park.
Smarttix
Smarttix (www.smarttix.com) is our ticketing fulfillment consultant and partner in designing the business model for mobile ticketing. A New York-based, fast-growing provider of on-line ticketing services to the arts, was incorporated in 1998 and is headed by William Lipscomb. An innovator in arts ticketing solutions, Smarttix offers advance sales ticketing to both fully-equipped organizations and those that lack the infra-structure or need to maintain a full-time box office. It offers its clients flexibility, ease of use and personal attention with a high standard of professionalism. In addition, it offers administrative and marketing services at reasonable prices so its clients' events can reach their full potential.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST VEHICLE
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Artist's
rendition by Bernard Germain. ArtsVan logo by Jane Schiowitz.
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The vehicle costs and design for this business plan are based on research conducted in conjunction with our designated location van provider, CitiVans On Location of Staten Island, NY. Rental costs are based on a day rate from CitiVans, which include a driver. This is advantageous, since DowntownNYC! will be relieved of administering payroll and employee benefits relating to the driver and of all maintenance and insurance costs relating to rolling stock, allowing us to concentrate on our core business of arts promotion and ticketing.
Photos of the first vehicle are on-line at: <www.artsvan.org/truck_in_progress.htm>. It is an Aerotech 200, vintage 1996, with about 30,000 miles. It was previously used as a mobile MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) lab. This truck was selected for its maneuverability in the narrow streets Downtown. It has automatic transmission and is approximately the size of a magazine delivery truck. It is built on a Ford E350 chassis, with dual rear wheels, gas-powered shock absorber leveling system, and an eight cylinder gas-burning engine. It has a cargo area 14 feet wide, eight feet wide and seven feet high. The heating and air conditioning unit is on the roof. No mechanical work is needed to make the vehicle roadworthy.
Since the rental rate will include the driver and all vehicle insurance, our only variable operating costs will be gasoline and kerosene (the latter is used in the electrical generator). We will share the renovation expense with CitiVans, depending on what needs to be done. Presently, the estimate for renovation expense and signs is $5,000.
The truck has an oversized generator, which was probably designed for the electrical needs of its medical machinery originally. The walls of the box are quite thick and finished in smooth white material.
The MTA's Metrocard selling busses have a service counter on the starboard side and a blank wall on the port side. We will probably start out with the same layout, using the port wall for the brochure wall. We will probably end up installing sales windows and awnings on both sides.
MARKETING DOWNTOWN ARTS TO THE DOWNTOWN WORKFORCE
ArtsVan's marketing staff will take full advantage of its Downtown locations for systematic outreach to the large workforce of the Downtown financial district. The Downtown financial community is a large potential customer base because:
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it is near Downtown theater venues
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Entertainment of clients is an on-going business practice
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Promotion of smaller Downtown theater/art productions often do not reach Downtown workers.
The ArtsVan's marketing staff aims to develop relationships with the community relations departments and philanthropy offices of Downtown companies. The goal would be to have ArtsVan's theater promotions listed on companies’ local intranet employee web sites. (An intranet website is a company’s internal website accessible only to employees.)
Promotions would include ticketing clubs for group sales, invitations to special previews, openings, and meetings with artists (actors, directors, etc.) Currently such promotions on company intranet web sites are limited largely to area shopping and restaurant discounts.
Strong symbiotic relationships between Downtown companies and small local Downtown art/theater organizations are currently lacking. Fostering local involvement and cross marketing would be a win-win situation for both sides. Downtown companies would be able to show their support for local art/theater efforts and actively participate in the revitalization of the Downtown neighborhood post-9/11, an initiative taken up by many Downtown firms. On the flip side, the ArtsVan effort would reach a much wider audience and generate a potentially far higher ticketing volume.
TIMETABLE
Upon raising $75,000 in startup costs, we plan to roll out the first ArtsVan, which will circulate in high-traffic areas covered by the Downtown Alliance's Wi-Fi Network (primarily the City Hall Park and Liberty Park) six days per week, year-round, from the hours of 11 am to 7 pm.
The first year will be a time for testing locations, creating relationships with arts organizations and neighborhood partners, evolving effective zoned promotions, expanding our marketing reach, and keeping meticulous sales records to facilitate seasonal forecasting.
In Year 2, programs for outreach to the Downtown workforce will be in full operation. The growth of Verizon's
Wi-Fi Network should allow us to begin circulating freely in neighborhoods outside of those enabled by the Downtown Alliance's free wireless zone.
In Year 3, we plan to roll out a second ArtsVan, which will double our coverage. We would anticipate supporting operations through earned income from ticketing commissions and heavily targeted corporate sponsorship monies, and that these private sources of funding will continue in subsequent years.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ARTS VAN
The program will initially serve established arts organizations such as museums and theater and dance companies. We hope to grow to serve arts performances of all disciplines. No ticket price will be too low for our program, and we expect wide participation by Off-Off Broadway.
What about non-performance events?
A portion of the vehicle to be racked for welcome center brochures, etc. so that our mobile "Welcome Center" can also promote Downtown fine/visual arts events and the Lower East Side shopping district and restaurants.
What are the geographic restrictions?
The first stage of this initiative is aimed at Downtown Manhattan (which we define as the area below 14th Street) and the "Near North." We intend to "partner" with the BID's on a district map, promotions, discounts and sponsorships. If the model is successful, it may eventually "roll out" to other areas of the City.
Locations to be explored include Astor Place, Union Square, Liberty Park, East Eighth Street, Sheridan Square, City Hall-Park Row, Ruth Wittenberg Triangle (6th Ave. at Ninth Street) and Broadway between Houston and Spring St.
Days of service: Tuesdays through Sundays. Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Downtown NYC!, Inc., the operator of this program, is a fiscally-sponsored project of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (http://www.lmcc.net).
Is this for discount tickets only?
Tickets to be full price, 25% discount or 50% discount, at the event producer's discretion.
There will be a uniform pricing policy for all ticketing systems. There will be convenience fees for ticket purchases only: $3 per ticket surcharge (paid by the buyer, split with the producer, or paid by the producer) on all sales. 10% commission (paid by producer) on all tickets sold for $40 or more. No charge for brochures only.
How will ArtsVan be publicized?
Participating theaters will carry display ads in their programs saying "We Support ArtsVan." A hotline will be established for telephone callers. Our own website, those of arts new services, and websites of New York's numerous cultural organizations will voluntarily carry a small advertising banner for ArtsVan, into which the locations and schedule will be broadcast. Press Releases will be issued on an ongoing basis. We hope to attain parking-type signs at ArtsVan locations. There will be various special events and promotions. There will be a press event for TV coverage at the program's kickoff.
How can organizations get a sales report?
Producers will be able to log on to their own ticketing company's website or our secure website for complete information.
Must organizations use the ticketing service to get their promotional materials on the truck?
No. This is an economic development program for Downtown New York. The brochure rack is gratis.
ArtsVan will be data-linked to established ticketing services through the Wireless Internet. All the established ticketing companies are eligible to participate in our program on behalf of their clients. Special box office consignments will also be accepted.
Customers will pay by cash or credit card and receive a printed sales confirmation (voucher) for each purchase. A rubber stamp may be added for additional fraud protection.
The truck(s) will have a display "board" showing promotional postcards of all shows being ticketed.
Customers will also receive a "zoned promotion," prepared by DowntownNYC! in partnership with the Downtown BID's, containing discounts and co-promotions with merchants, restaurants, parking lots, etc. which are convenient to the venue.
Development of the ticketing operation is being project managed through our ticketing fulfillment consultant, Smarttix (www.smarttix.com). Development of the zoned promotions will be handled in-house by DowntownNYC!.
How will the program benefit the Downtown economy?
Our "zoned promotions," a program of cross-promotions, discounts and sponsorships, will ensure that the Downtown business community will also benefit from the effort. Industry analyses by respected agencies have cited the considerable impact of Off-Broadway audiences on the local economy.
What are the responsibilities of presenters?
- Register their ticket consignments, enable ArtsVan ticketing with your ticketing service, and deliver promotional postcards--all with correct date, time and address info--to our pickup point (place TBA). Since the postcard will be given with the ticket voucher, you must deliver us at least as many postcards as the number of tickets you put on sale.
- Accept all ArtsVan ticket sale confirmation receipts (vouchers), treating them as pre-sold tickets.
- If the venue has reserved seating, exchange the ticket vouchers at your box office for tickets with seat numbers. If there is no reserved seating, either exchange them for standard tickets or have ushers accept them as regular tickets.
- Provide exchanges or refunds. Purchases at our mobile facility will be non-returnable final sales.
- Provide additional postcards, beyond what we need for ticketing, to be posted on our "On Sale" display board(s) and for our brochure racks. There is no fee for use of the brochure racks, but racks will be purged daily for shows which closed.
When and how will venues be paid for tickets sold?
Most venues are now working with one of the six ticketing vendors (Smarttix, TheaterMania, etc.). We are interfacing with these companies so that ArtsVan sales will be reflected in the venue's general sales report. ArtsVan will be paid directly by the ticketing services. If a venue does not work through a ticketing service, an individual plan will be created for that venue's needs.
ArtsVan plans to stay in operation as a permanent fixture and icon Downtown as the originator of mobile marketing and ticketing services for Lower Manhattan. As the first of its kind, ArtsVan has the advantages of first-to-market positioning and significant branding potential. ArtsVan will work hand-in hand with New York City as it continues to rebuild Lower Manhattan by attracting new cultural institutions, residents and businesses and promoting established ones. As the area stabilizes, ArtsVan will continue to be a beacon for its venues by promoting Downtown and in attracting theater-goers, gallery visitors , artists and performers to a new and vibrant, revitalized arts-rich neighborhood.
The ultimate goal of the organization is to decrease its reliance on charitable donations and to achieve long-term sustainability. ArtsVan is currently seeking funding from public and private foundations, partnering corporations and individual donors. ArtsVan will not compete with the arts organizations it hopes to serve by vying with them for the diminishing pot of government arts dollars.
Earned income sources will include:
- ticketing commissions
- ad sales/endorsements on the vehicle and its literature
- sales of miscellaneous merchandise (ArtsVan T-shirts and hats, guidebooks, CDs, DVDs, etc.)
- a membership fee from constituent organizations.
The combined revenue stream from ancillary sources cannot be accurately projected as of this writing. However, an illustration of earned income from ticketing commissions, based on the sales capacity of one truck, can be found in Appendix D.
PHASE 1
First year: $465,000 to fund startup costs and operations.
In Year 1, we plan to roll out the first ArtsVan, which will circulate in the above-described neighborhoods, six days per week, year-round, from the hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The van will reach a potential Downtown population of approximately 500,000 workers, 40,000 residents, and tourists that occupy 1,700 hotel rooms in Lower Manhattan. In addition, DowntownNYC! will establish a small office Downtown, from which to administer the ArtsVan project, receive and warehouse tickets and collateral material, and actively market the initiative.
PHASE 2
Second year: $723,000 to fund operations.
We anticipate supporting revenues from earned income and ticketing commissions plus heavily targeted corporate sponsorship monies, and that private sources of funding will continue in subsequent years. (See attached break-even analysis based on variable projections of ticketing commissions.)
Details of the budget for start up costs and pro forma for annual operations and revenues in Years 1 and 2 are found in Appendix D.
|
PHASE 1: Limited initial operations |
||||
|
STARTUP COSTS |
||||
|
Equipment and Furnishings |
$16,543.00 |
|||
|
Insurance |
$2,750.00 |
|||
|
Accounting, Legal and licenses |
$7,500.00 |
|||
|
Communications |
$4,200.00 |
|||
|
Setup costs, incl. deposits and design |
$4,300.00 |
|||
|
Publicity launch |
$7,100.00 |
|||
|
Staff |
$9,000.00 |
|||
|
IT setup |
$3,650.00 |
|||
|
Truck preparation |
$5,000.00 |
|||
|
Fall Benefit Expense |
$2,000.00 |
|||
|
contingency |
$7,500.00 |
|||
|
Fiscal agent |
$5,563.44 |
|||
|
TOTAL |
$75,106.44 |
|||
|
RUNNING COSTS |
||||
|
Salaries |
$156,000.00 |
|||
|
benefits & payroll costs |
$82,628.00 |
|||
|
general and administrative expense |
$22,152.00 |
|||
|
vehicle rental with driver |
$88,400.00 |
|||
|
commissions |
$25,220.00 |
|||
|
vehicle-related expense |
$3,484.00 |
|||
|
Provision for IT consulting |
$3,900.00 |
|||
|
Provision for additional insurance |
$8,684.00 |
|||
|
TOTAL |
$390,468.00 |
|||
Detailed budgets are contained in Appendix D.
DowntownNYC! Board of Directors, Advisory Board and Staff
Jonathan Slaff, COO, Jonathan Slaff & Associates Public Relations
Carolyn Sevos, President, Intracommunities, Inc.
Bill Johnson, Comptroller, Safe Art Transport, Inc.
Barbara Okishoff, COO, Artvoice
Ted Berger, Executive Director, New York Foundation for the Arts
Liz Thompson, Executive Director Emeritus, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
David Lotz, Executive Assistant, Communications, Actors Equity Association
Ellen Stewart, Founder/Artistic Director, LaMaMa E.T.C.
Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director, Theater for the New City
Nella Vera, Associate Producer, The Flea Theater
Susan Chicoine, Partner, Springer/Chicoine Theatrical Public Relations
Michael Dorf, Founder, The Knitting Factory
Craig T. Peterson, Senior Producer, Dance Theater Workshop
Norma P. Munn, Chairperson, NYC Arts Alliance
Robert Ianiello, Jr., President, Little Italy Merchants Association
Sharon L. Decker, Executive Director, TriBeCa Organization
Les Schecter, Director of Public Relations, Chinese Conservancy and Benevolent Association
Andy Lau, Dir. Business Development, Asian American Business Development Center
Les Schecter, Director of Public Relations, Chinese Conservancy and Benevolent Association
Bill Troop, Journalist/Food Writer
Jonathan Slaff, Project Director
Barbara Okishoff, Director of Client Services
Bill Johnson, Controller
Drivers (to be outsourced through the van company)
Ticketing Agents (unfilled positions)
Carolyn Sevos, outsourced Technology Consultant
Ann Gardner Kayman, outsourced Development Consultant
Biographies of Key Executives
Jonathan Slaff founded the public relations firm, Jonathan Slaff and Associates, in 1988 to promote arts groups on the cutting edge of New York’s cultural scene. Since then, the Greenwich Village based company has represented hundreds of theater and dance productions. Its success stories include the original production of Blue Man Group's "Tubes," which is now one of New York's most successful Downtown theatrical attractions.
Current clients include La MaMa E.T.C., one of our country's leading centers for emerging theater art, and Theater for the New City, a Pulitzer Prize winning community cultural center that is known for its high artistic standards and widespread community service. The roster also includes nationally-recognized concert/recording artists such as The Klezmer Conservatory Band, international performance troupes such as Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theater, and critically acclaimed classical troupes such as Kings County Shakespeare Company.
Artists represented by Jonathan Slaff and Associates have received 18 Obie-Awards, three "Bessies" and many other honors including Theater World, Lucille Lortel and the Outer Critics Circle Awards.
Mr. Slaff is Chairman of DowntownNYC!, an arts-business coalition working for the revitalization of Downtown Manhattan after 9/11. In 2002, DowntownNYC! released a landmark survey of 9/11's economic impact on individual artists in NYC, which it conducted in collaboration with New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and Consortium For Worker Education (CWE). He originated the idea of DowntownNYC!'s ArtsVan, the first traveling box office and ticketing kiosk in New York City.
He is Chairman of the Task Force in Arts and Entertainment of the Streaming Media Alliance and a member of the New York New Media Association. He is an activist in efforts to develop the Internet as a resource for arts organizations. Mr. Slaff designed and created an Internet-based ticketing service, nyticketwire.com, which was the first successful use of streaming media to promote theater ticketing.
Mr. Slaff received a BA from Yale College in American Studies and an MBA from Columbia's Graduate School of Business.
Barbara Okishoff is managing partner of ArtVoice, which has developed audiences for many of New York’s most innovative arts organizations. She has created customized marketing programs for such diverse clients as Jean Cocteau Repertory, Peccadillo Theater Company, Freestyle Repertory Theatre, 78th Street Theatre Lab and INTAR. She has been a marketing (group sales) and fundraising executive of the New York Philharmonic since 1991 and a marketing executive for the Public Theater and Second Stage. Since 1996, she has also been Marketing and Public Relations Manager for Collector Show Management, a NY magazine publisher which is active in trade shows. She holds a BA from University of Dayton in Communications.
Ann Gardner Kaymen is CEO of New York Grant Company (www.nygrants.com), a community based service organization that is dedicated to delivering financial aid to organizations in Lower Manhattan.
Ms. Kaymen served for four years in the Giuliani and Bloomberg Administrations as head of Business Development and Senior Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the City of New York’s primary portal to the business community. As such, she has assisted thousands of businesses and directed many efforts to help with the recovery of Lower Manhattan after September 11th. Prior to working with the City, she practiced for 14 years as a corporate lawyer for two major law firms in Midtown Manhattan. She earned her B.A. magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University and her J.D. cum laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Intracommunities, Inc. (ICI) (www.intracommunities.org) develops web-based software to manage database systems, website content and communication services for nonprofit, government, and nongovernmental agencies. ICI is committed to connecting community members online unimpeded by obstacles such as complicated, over-priced technology and insecure environments. It uses Unix-based systems software that can be used independently or as a cross-platform application that can enhance more expensive software products with similar services such as Oracle, Microsoft, or Sybase. Unique ICI privacy protection software offers multiple levels of security to assure privacy from the outside, as well as, if required, within the community.
The company also implements and maintains interactive community websites and online database management systems for member tracking services, e-commerce systems, and scheduling software for a wide variety of organizations.
ICI was the IT provider for both of DowntownNYC!'s surveys on the economic impact of 9/11 upon New York artists and arts organizations. Carolyn Sévos, President of ICI, was co-author and IT manager of these surveys.
Ms. Sévos manages the sales, marketing and training seminars for ICI. Before establishing ICI with Jeremy Horland in 2000, she developed and maintained a pioneering website for the publishing house Weatherhill, Inc. In 1995, she and Mr. Horland predated Amazon.com by creating for Weatherhill a website with a complete online catalogue and shopping cart system.
Ms. Sévos graduated from Oberlin College as a History Major in 1992. She received her Masters in Education from New York University in 1997, after which she taught history at Murray Bergtraum High School for Business Careers.
Information for donors: how to make a tax-deductable contribution
Downtown NYC!, Inc. is a fiscally sponsored organization of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. (http://www.lmcc.net), a 501 (c) (3) organization.
To make a financial donation by mail, you can make a check payable to Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, indicate "for DowntownNYC! ArtsVan" in the memo line, and mail it to DowntownNYC! at 55 Perry Street, Suite #1M, New York, NY 10014.
Credit card donations may be made through a link on our website, www.downtownnyc.info.
In-kind donations are gratefully accepted.
APPENDIX A: SELECTIONS FROM ARTSVAN'S LETTERS OF ENDORSEMENT
"America is in a depression and Greater New York is especially suffering. We must rely on ourselves to rebuild and revitalize. DowntownNYC! has a practical way to address the many-layered issues addressing our community. It’s a time honored tradition in the theatre: "TAKE THE SHOW ON THE ROAD." If the audience doesn’t come to you – go to the audience. La MaMa E.T.C. has always been a "roll up your sleeves and get the job done" kind of enterprise. Perhaps this is why DowntownNYC! appeals to me. This is New Yorkers helping New Yorkers."
Beverly Petty, Associate Director, La MaMa Experimental Theater Club
"Since there are now a significant number of Off Broadway & Off Broadway theaters located below 14th Street, and since this part of Manhattan is still suffering business-wise from 9/11 with the commercial businesses off between 25% to 30% over last year, this specific promotion would go a long way in helping our neighborhood stores & the entire Downtown business community."
Honi Klein, Executive Director, The Village Alliance, a Business Improvement District
"As an organization that promotes Lower East Side businesses and arts organizations, we see this project as a great benefit to our area. We endorse the project and would like to be in the first round or participants benefiting from a stationed Downtown Arts Wagon in our district."
Kim Baker, Economic Development Associate, Lower East Side Business Improvement District
"The Klezmer Mountain Boys would like to express our support for the development of a Downtown Mobile Hospitality Center and Ticketing Truck. We are still recovering from the loss of thousands of dollars worth of bookings sustained as a result of the WTC attack. The venues in which we perform were adversely affected by the attack, and our audience continues to be affected to an extent that can’t be quantified. We believe in the importance of supporting Downtown arts in order to revitalize all of Downtown business and culture."
Margot Leverett, Artistic Director and Manager, The Klezmer Mountain Boys
"The New Museum, located in the heart of Soho, is the premier destination for contemporary art in New York City. Our exhibitions attract a diverse audience of artists, architects, students and other creative professionals, as well as our members and supporters. I’m sure we’d make a great addition to your list of Downtown cultural venues involved with the ArtsVan. We look forward to working with you on this."
Maggie Seidel, Marketing and Special Events Coordinator, The New Museum
"With our administrative offices on Christopher Street, and this and previous seasons of performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Theatre for a New Audience is ensconced in New York City’s Downtown culture. We are therefore very enthused by and supportive of DowntownNYC!’s plans to revitalize Downtown Manhattan and look forward to participating in campaigns to make Downtown arts organizations more visible and accessible to the public."
Jessica Niebanck, Associate General Manager, Theatre for a New Audience
"Theatreworks/USA is America’s largest non-profit theatre for young and family audiences. Our limited budget makes it extremely difficult to publicize our productions, and we believe that ArtsVan could be an invaluable resource to assist is in reaching the residents of, and visitors to, Lower Manhattan. We are deeply committed to Downtown revitalization, and we also feel that this initiative to form a mobile visitor’s center/ticketing station could potentially be as integral to the local tourism industry and art community as TDF’s Times Square TKTS booth."
Patrick Dwyer, Theatreworks/USA
"The Public Theater would like to endorse your Downtown Arts Recovery Program. We would most certainly be interested in utilizing the services of the Downtown Mobile Hospitality Center and Ticketing Truck when it is launched. Thank you for your efforts to revitalize Downtown arts in the aftermath of 9/11."
Sandi Carroll, Marketing & Audience Development, The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival
"P.S. 122 heartily endorses the concept and wishes to be in the first round of participants when and if the initiative is launched."
Andy Horwitz, Director of Marketing, Performance Space 122
"This project sounds very promising and based on our experiences with DowntownNYC!, we are confident that the project will be successful."
Jodie Capes, Director of Ticketing, Drama Dept.
"As you are aware, the Off-Broadway hit NAKED BOYS SINGING! has been a fixture at 100 Seventh Avenue for the last four years. We have suffered terribly since the events of September 11th as there definitely is not as much foot traffic on the street which we depend on for ticket sales. I believe a Downtown Arts Wagon would help with both ticket sales and with funneling people into the Downtown area."
Tom Smedes, Producer, Naked Boys Singing/Martian Entertainment
"As a non-profit specializing in Classical Theatre, a phenomenon such as this would be greatly helpful to our organization. We’ve worked hard to find our audience over the past five years – an ArtsVan would be of immeasurable value in helping potential audience find tickets when DowntownNYC! gets it up and running."
Nate Terracio, General Manager, The Aquila Theatre Company
"We at the THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY feel that this is a wonderful idea, and that it will prove a great boon to all businesses below 14th Street."
Crystal Field, Executive Director, Theater for the New City
"This season has been particularly tough. The war, the weather, etc. Some type of additional support is definitely required to keep East Village venues afloat. Needless to say, when I first heard about the idea for an "ArtsVan" I was very excited. I wholeheartedly support this effort. I await for its fruition eagerly and expectantly."
Alex Dawson, Bon Bock Productions
APPENDIX B: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS TO NEW YORK CITY'S ECONOMY
Statement of Rosemary Scanlon, Associate Professor Real Estate Institute, New York University SCPS, to New York City Council Committees
February 24, 2003
The Arts are a Vital Aspect of the New York Economy
Good Morning. My name is Rosemary Scanlon, and I am an Associate Professor of Economics at the Real Estate Institute of New York University.
I have spent most of my career as an economist studying the New York City and metro area economy, including studies of the Arts as a major industry in this great economy. I am pleased to share with you today some key findings of those studies, which demonstrated for the first time that the Arts are a vital aspect of the New York City economy.
This economy of New York City is a great economy, the most powerful and important urban economy in the US and indeed the Western Hemisphere; and New York City in its economic power shares a leading global status with perhaps two or three other cities in the world – London surely, and Tokyo for most years of the past three decades.
And while there are many industries and great diversity of occupations in New York City, we know that its economy – like that of London – is driven by just a handful of industries: Finance, Exchanges and Investment Banking sectors; the great Business Services such as Law or Advertising or Management Consulting; Media and Communications; Tourism; and The Arts and Culture. These are the major engines of the economy – industries that sell their services to the rest of the country and to the rest of the world, that ‘export’ their skill and knowledge and thereby bring back the revenues to support our local economy, our governments, and our public sector investment.
No doubt our public officials and business leaders always believed that the Arts played a major economic role, as well as cultural role, in the life of our City. For the first time, in 1983, when Martin Segal asked the Port Authority and the Alliance for the Arts (then called the Cultural Assistance Center) to conduct the study measuring the economic importance of the Arts, we were able to quantify that role.
We found then, in 1983 dollars, that the Arts were a $5.6 billion industry in this metro area. We also found that:
-
most of that economic value was created in New York City;
-
the Arts were a larger industry than advertising
-
the Arts were a major factor in attracting tourists to New York City
-
the Arts were an export industry for New York City
-
and that the Arts were a significant employer in the City, not only of professional actors and dancers, musicians and curators; but also of skilled craftsmen, technicians, insurance brokers and transportation workers.
What is more, it was possible in that analysis to calculate the total amount of city and state operating support to the city’s arts institutions, and then, in measuring the taxes generated by the entire profit and non-profit arts, both aspects, to conclude that the total tax return of just personal income and sales taxes was greater than the volume of public sector grants.
Ten years later I had the opportunity to conduct this study again, with the collaboration of the Alliance for the Arts, and with the assistance of most of the same team of analysts. We found that by 1993 the Arts had grown to be a $9.8 billion industry in the region, of which $9.2 billion was centered in New York City. Adjusted for inflation, the arts had grown by a robust 14 percent in that ten-year period.
That 1993 study followed the same methodology and the same definition of the industry, to include:
-
Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre, which generated almost $1 billion.
-
The operations of the Art Auction houses and the Art Galleries, which had a total impact of $840 million.
-
The great and small non-profit Cultural Institutions (museums and orchestras, the opera and dance, the natural history and science institutions, the zoos and botanical gardens), which together had an economic impact of $2.7 billion.
-
Film and Television Production, the largest segment, at a total of $3 billion.
-
And visitors to the region who came specifically for the Arts, or who extended their stay to attend an arts function, who generated $2.3 billion in economic activity.
We also found that over 107, 000 jobs were generated either directly or indirectly; that wages and salaries totaled $3.5 billion; and that taxes generated in the metro area from just personal income and sales tax and totaled $325 million.
Several years later my colleagues on both the earlier Arts studies, Randy Bourscheidt and Catherine Lanier, updated this study to 1995, and estimated that the total economic impact of the arts had grown to $11 billion in New York City, up from the $9.2 billion of three years earlier.
Lessons We Continue to Learn on the Economic Importance of the Arts:
Every indication we have on the economic viability of the Arts in New York during the rest of the 1990’s, through to the peak reached in the City’s economy by the summer of 2000, suggests that the Arts have continued to grow strongly, and were a significant contributor during the 1990s to business and job growth in the City:
-
Our museums and music halls, the Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres were filled with patrons; more TV productions and movies were being made here; the art galleries were flourishing; and the added dimension to the range of offerings by new investments in the major arts facilities such as the Rose Center at the American Museum of Natural History, proved a major factor in drawing new tourist and business visitors to the City. ( If we were to conduct a third ten-year cycle economic study to capture those component sectors in the year 2000, we would likely have found that the total economic activity of the industry had grown substantially , perhaps to the $12-15 billion range).
-
That visitors were important – visitors from overseas, but also from the metropolitan region and from residents of the City itself --- became all too obvious in the painful aftermath of September 11, when the City’s great museums, theaters, and concert halls were bereft of customers. We were able to see, all too graphically, how important the Arts are to the City’s hotel and restaurant industries, to retail and local transportation demand.
We have also learned through these studies just how important public sector support is to the Arts in New York City. Our studies have shown that New York City’s funding support to each year’s operations of the non-profit cultural sector ripples through to the for-profit sectors of film and television production, and together with the other components and the spending of visitors to the Arts, yields a return in tax generation that far outweighs the volume of subsidies. The 1993 study showed that the operating support to the non-profit arts from New York City and other local governments totaled $155 million, yet the taxes generated just from personal and sales taxes totaled $325 million.
New York, along with London and Paris, are the great centers of the Arts, and visitors to the Arts. We can judge by the recent major investments to provide major cultural Arts centers in such cities as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, or in Balboa, that the Arts are recognized as necessary, not only for their residents, but to bolster the vibrancy of their economy and their attraction of new visitors and businesses. Our studies have shown that the support of New York City government, together with that of individuals, forms the major sources of funding support in the non-profit sector. This sector, in turn anchors the entire Arts industry.
I believe firmly that New York City must maintain and enhance the position and the vibrancy of its great Arts institutions, its growing film and TV production industry, its art galleries; that it must nourish the small and innovative groups as well as support the great and proven institutions. As a society, as well as to ensure the development of the next generation and to help unlock the creative potential of our many new immigrant groups, I believe that it is very important for New York City to continue support of its Arts, even in these difficult days.
PHASE 1: First Year -- Limited Initial Operations
|
STARTUP COSTS |
|||||||
|
Bank Charges |
$300 |
||||||
|
Broadband Service for office |
$600 |
||||||
|
Computers (2) for administration |
$3,500 |
||||||
|
Copier |
$1,200 |
||||||
|
Graphic Design |
$2,000 |
||||||
|
Insurance incl. Bus. Liability |
$2,750 |
||||||
|
IT development & installation |
$2,550 |
||||||
|
Laser Printers (3) |
$600 |
||||||
|
Mailings to Downtown Organizations |
$2,600 |
||||||
|
Network equipment for truck & office |
$200 |
||||||
|
Office furnishings & maintenance |
$3,000 |
||||||
|
Office Rent (donated) |
$0 |
||||||
|
POS/cash register/inventory system |
$3,043 |
||||||
|
Press Agent |
$3,500 |
||||||
|
Printing |
$1,000 |
||||||
|
Provision for Accounting Expense |
$2,500 |
||||||
|
Provision for Fall Benefit expense |
$2,000 |
||||||
|
Provision for Legal and Filings |
$3,000 |
||||||
|
Provision for office-related deposits |
$1,000 |
||||||
|
Provision for Permits and Licenses |
$2,000 |
||||||
|
Rugged Laptops for location use (2) |
$5,000 |
||||||
|
compensation: Business Manager |
$3,000 |
||||||
|
compensation: Client Services Director |
$3,000 |
||||||
|
compensation: Logistics manager |
$3,000 |
||||||
|
Telephone inc. cellular |
$3,600 |
||||||
|
Truck expense: signs & installations |
$5,000 |
||||||
|
Web Design |
$600 |
||||||
|
Web Server |
$500 |
||||||
|
Zoned promotion setup |
$1,000 |
||||||
|
Contingency |
$7,500 |
||||||
|
Subtotal |
$69,543 |
||||||
|
Fiscal agent's fee (8%) |
$5,563.44 |
||||||
|
TOTAL STARTUP EXPENSE |
$75,106 |
||||||
|
RUNNING COSTS |
|||||||
|
Costs for limited weekend operations (Sat & Sun): |
Additional cost for limited 6-day/week |
||||||
|
Advertising |
$0 |
operations (Tu-Sun): |
|||||
|
Bank Charges |
$42 |
increased compensation |
$1,000 |
||||
|
Exec. Dir., Logistics Manager |
$1,000 |
payroll taxes |
$690 |
||||
|
Gas |
$67 |
benefits: health insurance |
$861 |
||||
|
IT--provision for hourly consulting |
$75 |
workman's compensation |
$38 |
||||
|
Messengers |
$33 |
additional vehicle rental |
$1,200 |
||||
|
Office Expense |
$150 |
subtotal: additional expense |
$3,789 |
||||
|
Postage & Printing |
$134 |
add: weekend cost (col. 1) |
$3,719 |
||||
|
Provision for add'l Crime Insurance |
$167 |
TOTAL WEEKLY COST (6 days) |
$7,508 |
||||
|
Salaries: Business Manager* |
$500 |
||||||
|
Salaries: Client Services Rep* |
$500 |
||||||
|
Salaries: Driver** |
$0 |
||||||
|
Stationary & Office Supplies |
$67 |
||||||
|
Vehicle Rental with Driver |
$500 |
*=additional sales commissions to be determined |
|||||
|
Subtotal |
$3,234 |
**=included in rental cost |
|||||
|
Commissions to Ad Sales Rep (15%) |
$485 |
||||||
|
TOTAL WEEKEND COST (2 days) |
$3,719 |
||||||
PHASE 2: Second Year -- Costs for Ongoing Operations
|
PRO FORMA: DowntownNYC! ArtsVan |
|
|
Stage 2: Budgets for ongoing operations |
|
|
RUNNING COSTS |
6-day/wk. Operations |
|
Accounting |
$ 5,000.00 |
|
Advertising |
$ 75,000.00 |
|
Bank Charges |
$ 1,500.00 |
|
Benefits: Health Insurance (4-5) |
$ 56,000.00 |
|
Development Expense |
$ 40,000.00 |
|
Exec. Dir. And Consultants |
$ 75,000.00 |
|
Entertainment & Professional Gifts |
$ 1,400.00 |
|
Gas |
$ 3,510.00 |
|
Graphic Design |
$ 2,000.00 |
|
Insurance: Crime |
$ 1,000.00 |
|
Insurance: Phys Damage |
$ - |
|
Insurance: Vehicle Liability |
$ - |
|
Insurance: Bus. Equipment |
$ 750.00 |
|
Insurance: Business Liability |
$ 2,500.00 |
|
Insurance: Disability |
$ 100.00 |
|
Internet Registrations |
$ 100.00 |
|
IT--maintain databases |
$ 1,200.00 |
|
IT--provision for hourly consulting |
$ 1,800.00 |
|
Legal |
$ 4,000.00 |
|
Loan Payment on Truck |
$ - |
|
Messengers |
$ 1,300.00 |
|
Office Equipment Repairs |
$ 600.00 |
|
Office Rental |
$ - |
|
Payroll taxes 23% |
$ 49,450.00 |
|
Postage |
$ 2,000.00 |
|
Printing |
$ 400.00 |
|
Press Agent |
$ 3,500.00 |
|
Reference Books |
$ 250.00 |
|
Salaries: Business Manager* |
$ 50,000.00 |
|
Salaries: Driver/backup ticket agent |
- |
|
Salaries: Ticket Agent* |
$ 45,000.00 |
|
Salaries: Client Services Rep* |
$ 45,000.00 |
|
sales commissions |
- |
|
Shipping |
$ 400.00 |
|
Stationary & Office Supplies |
$ 1,400.00 |
|
Telephone incl. Cellular |
$ 3,600.00 |
|
Truck Repairs |
- |
|
Utilities |
$ - |
|
Vehicle Cleaning, Septic Service** |
$ - |
|
Vehicle Rental with Driver*** |
$ 156,000.00 |
|
Web Design |
$ 500.00 |
|
Webserver |
$ 240.00 |
|
Workman's Comp. (4-5 empl.) |
$ 2,000.00 |
|
Xerox |
$ 650.00 |
|
Contingency |
$ 90,000.00 |
|
TOTAL ANNUAL COST |
$ 723,150.00 |
|
*=receives additional compensation from commissions. Formula to be determined. |
|
|
**=Forecasts will change based on costs of cleaning and sanitation services for owned vehicles. These have not yet been obtained from vendors. |
|
|
***=contains increase in rental rate to enable vendor to accelerate amortization of an exclusive vehicle for use by ArtsVan |
|
|
PRO FORMA: Earned income from ticket sale commissions |
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|
Ticket Sales Capacity of one ArtsVan |
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|
Assumptions: |
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|
1 location |
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|
7.5 hours sale time/day |
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|
Est. vol 100 tx/hr (2 sellers working) |
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|
7.5 x 100 = 750 tickets per day |
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|
Weekly cost of operation (for break-even calculation) is based on first year's budget. |
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|
Overview of Tickets Sold Downtown |
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|
seats |
frequency |
avg. price |
total |
No. Seats/wk. |
% tot. sales |
|
|
Commercial Off-Broadway |
2300 |
8 |
$43.75 |
$805,000.00 |
18400 |
52.90% |
|
All other |
3640 |
4.5 |
$12.00 |
$196,560.00 |
16380 |
47.10% |
|
Total Sales |
5940 |
$1,001,560.00 |
34780 |
|||
|
Average Price per Ticket |
$28.80 |
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|
Ticket Sale Commissions at Full Capacity |
Weekly cost |
% capacity |
||||
|
6-day week |
# Sales |
fee |
frequency |
net |
of operation |
needed for |
|
Commercial Off-Broadway |
397 |
$4.35 |
8 |
$13,807.94 |
break-even |
|
|
All other |
353 |
$3.00 |
4.5 |
$4,768.47 |
||
|
total |
750 |
$18,576.41 |
$7,524.00 |
40.50% |
||
|
Estimated cash flow from ticket sale commissions only |
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|
(DOES NOT INCLUDE SPONSORSHIP OR MISC. SALES INCOME) |
Months to |
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|
Beg. Sales as % of Capacity |
Growth Rate/Month |
break even |
||||
|
15% |
0.02 |
60 |
||||
|
20% |
0.03 |
51 |
||||
|
OTHER SOURCES OF EARNED INCOME |
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|
Advertising: |
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|
Weekend Sponsor |
$3,700/weekend |
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|
Weekly Sponsor |
$7,500/week |
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|
Border of tickets |
to be determined |
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|
Ticket Envelopes |
to be determined |
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|
Shopping Bags (count to prove traffic) |
to be determined |
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|
ArtsVan Shop (books, DVDs, etc.) |
to be determined |
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--END--