Toward the end of Hourglass Foundation’s September First Friday Forum, John Gerdy of Music for Everyone summarized what, in his view, nonprofit arts organizations need to do to advance their mission.
For starters, advocacy. “We’ve got to do a better job of telling our story” to all stakeholders, he said. Second, be willing to talk in detail about data and outcomes. Third, collaboration: “Collaborations build synergies.” Fourth, continue to lower barriers and broaden access.
Gerdy joined three other panelists: Molly Kirchoff, who leads the city government’s Office of Public Art; Carissa Massey, provost at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design; and Mitch Nugent, founding executive producer at Prima Theatre. Together, the four briefed their audience on the challenges facing the local arts community and the prospects for its continued growth and flourishing.
Arts and culture generate hundreds of millions of dollars of direct and indirect economic activity in Lancaster County. Local theaters are major tourism draws, as are music festivals like Launch and the upcoming Lancaster Roots & Blues. Clusters of arts-oriented businesses like Gallery Row and the 300 block of North Queen Street have played a crucial role in reviving and sustaining Lancaster city’s downtown.
Of course, the arts also add intangible value. The best parts of life, Nugent said, “are those bold and beautiful experiences that we share with the people who matter to us.” Those are the peak moments that arts organizations like Prima Theatre strive to provide.
Founded in 2010, Prima staged shows at 15 successive venues before securing its 150-seat theater at 941 Wheatland Ave. in 2018. While nationwide attendance for nonprofit performing arts groups has dropped significantly since the pandemic, Prima has bucked that trend, seeing its attendance increase by about a third.
“We love offering a little bit of ‘Red Bull for the soul,’ so you leave feeling more invigorated than when you came,” Nugent said.
For city government, Kirchoff said, public art is a way of placemaking. It allows a community to represent itself and see itself.
To be sure, there are always naysayers who want the city to stick to fixing potholes and the like. But when you put something beautiful in a neighborhood, Kirchoff said, “that is going to activate that space.” That in turn deters vandalism and antisocial behavior, and promotes safety and community connection, even happiness.
Music for Everyone supports more than a dozen programs, and has invested more than $5 million in local music and music education. It has donated more than 14,000 instruments to local music education programs, placed more than 200 pianos through its “Keys for the City” program and has committed itself to keep in repair every instrument at every public school in Lancaster County.
In all, Music for Everyone has collaborated with more than 100 entities, including more than 90 schools, Gerdy said. Arts organizations need to break out of their silos, he said, and be willing to partner with schools, government agencies, businesses — any kind of entity.
Massey touted the work ethic of the students at PCAD. They are makers and entrepreneurs, she said, and they are expert communicators.
As for PCAD itself, it is in the midst of a growth spurt. This fall it is welcoming its largest class ever, bringing total enrollment to more than 400, up from an average of around 240 just a few years ago. PCAD has always been highly intentional about its small size, believing it nurtures student creativity and promotes community engagement, and it intends to maintain that level of personal attention in this new era, Massey said.
PCAD teaches practical skills — internships or apprenticeships are a requirement for graduation — and it is becoming “incredibly interdisciplinary,” Massey said.
She again cited career opportunities when asked by Hourglass founder and Chairman Art Mann Sr. during the audience Q&A how the arts can contribute to reducing recidivism. Audience member Ryan Shank, founder of the Red Rose Film Festival, chimed in: People don’t realize the sheer number and variety of career trades there are in the arts and entertainment industries, or how robust the opportunities are, he said.
The panelists agreed that securing resources for arts programs remains a major challenge, as does competition from other claims on people’s time. In the era of Netflix and YouTube, “we compete with couches,” Nugent said.
Yet Lancaster has something special in its arts community, they said. Massey said she was blown away by the “cosmopolitan city” she found here when she arrived in 2019. Lancaster embraces the arts as a community, she said — it’s in the local DNA.
“I just want you to know how beautiful the city is from my eyes,” she said.
