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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > December > 05
Friday, December 5, 2008
Long Center receives challenge grant
The Long Center for the Performing Arts has received a $87,000 matching grant from the Austin-based Tomblin Family Foundation. The grant will match the amount of donations obtained by Long Center board members by Dec. 18.
In a release issued today, Long Center officials said that the privately run, two-venue performing arts center is headed for a break-even budget this year that includes $2.5 million in charitable support from the community.
Cliff Redd, the center’s executive director, said: “The Long Center’s presenting income, ticket sales and rental income will provide 73 percent of our revenue for 2008-09. That is one of the highest self-supporting percentages for any performing arts center in the country. So, those who love and want to support the performing arts can be proud and confident to invest in the Long Center.”
Certainly the Long Center seems to be fairing better than the city-operated Overture Center in Madison, Wis. which announced yesterday that it was cutting about 25 percent of its workforce to make the budget balanced for next year. Roughly similar in size and scale as the Long Center, the Overture also had to liquidate its trust fund to pay for construction debt. Ouch.
The Overture’s tale of troubles joins a string of bad news from arts non-profits across the country who are feeling the effects of the economic downturn. So far in Austin we’ve had no news of arts groups facing life-or-death financial straits. In January, we’ll take a look at the state-of-the-arts in Austin as the country grapples with a now-official recession.
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