Chicago Sun-Times: A devastating report last week on the crisis facing Chicago’s cultural arts community came as little surprise to people who work in the field and already have been dealing with the new reality for the past three years.
“People are just not doing what they used to when it comes to the arts, and this study proved it’s true,” said Margaret McCloskey, executive director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company.
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I just finished reading the article about Broadway seeing an increase in ticket sales and revenue so it was an odd transition to immediately read this one. The thing that scares me most about going to school for theater during a time like this is fully knowing it is a dying art form and doing it anyway. While places like Broadway are making a comeback I know that is not the case across the rest of the US, and that makes me nervous. Something that brought me some hope when reading this was seeing how many people there are out there fighting for the arts. I think that is why, despite being terrified, I chose to go into the arts. I knew that I would not be alone in my fight to get people to understand how incredibly important live theater is and the impact it can have. So, while this was not the most reassuring article I think there is hope hidden in the people outlined that are doing the good work to get art back on its feet.
As said in the article, hopefully this report operates as a wake up call. The article mentioned parking and other costs as a related effect of inflation and a deterrent for people to go out and enjoy theatre or other arts. Additionally, drive time was mentioned which makes me curious about other forms of travel. As someone interested in public transit and also someone from Chicago, I am aware that the CTA still has much lower ridership rates than they did before the pandemic. While some of this can be attributed to less people needing to commute due to the rise of working from home, I have also heard of a rise of crime on the L trains. Reading this article and seeing car travel mentioned, made me curious about how the fall in usage of public transit might also have affected this cultural arts crisis.
The statistic that surprised me the most is that audiences used to go to cultural art events around forty five times a year. When I really think about it, I’m sure that my family went to more events in my childhood, but that was at most once a month. It’s clear some theaters are more prepared to this than others, bu the reasoning behind it is depressing. This is also a difficult reality check for those of us who are going into the industry. I am sure that as a whole the industry will adapt and find new ways to connect with audiences. While this shift is being made, it doesn’t mean there are less job opportunities, but more unstable jobs. I am still trying to have faith that I made a sane decision going into this industry, but as our beloved professor once said “you decided to go to clown school, so now you have to be a clown”.
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