metlife foundation national arts forum series

Past Forums

Arts & Business Council Inc.
New York, New York

Arts for Hope
01/01/2002

Moderator: Gary P. Steuer
President and Chief Executive Officer, Arts & Business Council Inc.

Panelists:

• Theodore Berger
  Executive Director, New York Foundation for the Arts
• ARTHUR COHEN
  Principal, LaPlaca Cohen
• Carol Enseki
  Executive Director, Brooklyn Children’s Museum
• Janet D. Rodriguez
  Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co

This forum, presented only months after September 11, 2001, focused on the impact of those events on New York City’s arts community. The discussion also offered an opportunity to educate business and arts professionals about “Arts for Hope,” the Arts & Business Council’s response to September 11.

The Context: Impact of 9/11 on the Arts Enseki focused on the immediate responses of the arts community following the attacks of September 11. She described in moving terms how parents came to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum to “find a brief respite from their own grief.” She noted that arts organizations are uniquely positioned to prepare children to respond to such incomprehensible events because they broaden their views of the world by conveying values that inspire positive living. Berger provided sobering statistics regarding the recent economic plight of many New York City arts organizations, including cuts in arts education, reduction of government support, and a lagging economy. Berger described the New York Arts Recovery Fund, a major initiative that is assisting arts groups and individual artists impacted by the attacks. Rodriguez spoke of the efforts by the corporate community to respond, finding ways both to support the arts in this time of crisis, and also respond to the enormous larger human needs of victims and their families.

The Response: “Arts for Hope” Cohen, principal of LaPlaca Cohen, an advertising agency donating its service to the effort, presented an overview of the campaign. Arts for Hope was designed to focus public attention on the value of the arts in difficult times. Principally a media campaign, Arts for Hope comprised print and outdoor advertisements that communicate why the arts are particularly relevant now. A Web site component made the public aware of volunteer, philanthropic, and educational opportunities that can help them make the arts a more central part of their lives. The campaign was intended to appeal not just to New Yorkers but to visitors as well. Arts for Hope was being funded by a leadership grant of $250,000 by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. It is one of many joint efforts by the arts and business communities aimed at ensuring that the public will continue to patronize and support New York’s cultural organizations, which are important to the economic life and health of the city.

[Editor’s note: The Arts for Hope campaign was executed in the summer of 2002, with extensive outdoor advertising in the New York City transit system, as well as print advertisements in The New York Times and Time Out New York. The campaign reached millions of New Yorkers and visitors to the City. The Web site is still active and can be visited at www.artsforhope.org.)