Among our many looming challenges is one that has not gotten sufficient attention. The United States is in the midst of an unprecedented cultural depression–the arts have been devastated by this crisis like few other groups and billions of dollars are being lost across America.
In cities like New York, Broadway, performing arts and museums are not just part of what makes the city so vital, but they fuel an entire economic ecosystem of restaurants, hotels, and small businesses. And performing arts will be shut down for another year, making it 18 months in total.
A generation of artists and arts professionals, already making a precarious living, will be driven forever from their work. Arts organizations will fail. And film and television production have also suffered enormously. The arts sector in the U.S. is bigger than the agricultural sector.
It’s a vitally important part of our economy. But it is, of course more than that. It is essential to the vibrancy of our society. It is part of the lifeblood of any civilization. Losing arts institutions, threatening the long-term future of fragile art forms, has many costs.
We lose much of what knits us together, what elevates us, what forces us to think, what enables us to laugh and cry. This is not about a luxury for a rich. It is about what makes us who we are. I don’t see leaders talking about this in a serious way. I don’t see plans to help.
But if we don’t act now, the economic necrosis will begin and we will lose much that can be reclaimed. It should be–like all forms of COVID crisis relief–a priority. It won’t be until we have a new president and Congress, but that should not stop leaders from shaping plans now. Nor should it stop members of the community from stepping up and framing the problem as a critical priority. Nor should it stop each of us from doing what we can to send the message that we must prioritize the arts, tourism, and culture for reasons that go far beyond economics.
