The first step of this partnership was to hold an invitational two day retreat in July, 1990, at IBM's Palisades Advanced Business Institute for a small group of diverse arts and business leaders. The purpose was to discuss the depth and nature of problems facing the arts in New York City and to determine if indeed this project should go forward. The group agreed unanimously on the need to address these issues and developed a 12-step plan of action (outlined on page 12) to document the severity of the problems and to address solutions. This status report covers the work to date which has involved completion of the research phase.

It must be noted that this is a work in progress, an exploration, process and inquiry. The research has found that the well-publicized problems of a few organizations are quietly the problems of the majority of the arts groups involved in the process to date (more than 70 groups). This is not an attempt to promote specific solutions or approaches. If change is to occur and the recommendations implemented, it must be a joint effort between a variety of service providers, funders, experts and the artists and arts organizations themselves.

There is no doubt that the solutions will be numerous, diverse and continually evolving. The ultimate goal is to form coalitions involving all of the aforementioned to provide the tools, processes and resources to help the arts organizations fulfill their artistic missions and support the work of present and future generations of artists. Definition of problem: A large proportion of the nonprofit arts community is in crisis. After years of growth, new challenges threaten the survival and vitality of both established and new organizations. Groups across America are finding it increasingly difficult to find the resources to sustain their mission and quality.

CONTENTS
Introduction.

Acknowledgements:

Leadership support.
Profiles of lead agencies.
Arts and Business Council.
IBM.
FEDAPT [Foundation for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre].
Project team.

The Palisades prologue:

Introduction.
Definition of problem.
Major action steps.
Crisis snapshot.
External causes:
     Changing demographics/lifestyles.
     Economic/Business climate changes.
     Need to address major health, employment and social issues.
     Impact of external political and community issues.
     Factors affecting human resources.
     Media/Communication issues.
Internal Issues:
     Overall.
     Program.
     Structure and operation.
     Financial resources.
     Arts professionals.
     Volunteers.
Plan of action.

Position Paper: Critical issues in the arts, written by FEDAPT:

Introduction.
Challenge and crisis.
The crisis of note.
The quiet crisis.
Debt pathology/Symptoms and behavior.
Defining the gap.
Conclusion.

Arts Roundtable Discussions:

About the Roundtables.
Responses to the position paper.
Snapshots of participants.
Current climate and conditions of the field.
Mission/Artistic issues.
Climate.
Number of organizations and attrition.
Competition.
Diversity of sector.
Financial issues.
Responses to financial climate.
Debt.
Fundraising.
Climate.
Issues related to funders.
Administration/Management.
Personnel.
Structure/Model.
Facilities/Real Estate.
Boards/Volunteers.
Arts and Education.
Advocacy.
Multicultural.
Press.
Responses/Action.
Assessment/Stabilization.
Financial.
Relationships to funders.
Relationships to business.
Structure/Model/Management/Personnel.
Long-range planning.
Arts and Education.
Advocacy/Marketing.
Leadership.
Multicultural.
General.

FEDAPT response to Roundtables.
Arts and Business Council Response to roundtables.
List of participants.

The first step of this partnership was to hold an invitational two day retreat in July, 1990, at IBM's Palisades Advanced Business Institute for a small group of diverse arts and business leaders. The purpose was to discuss the depth and nature of problems facing the arts in New York City and to determine if indeed this project should go forward. The group agreed unanimously on the need to address these issues and developed a 12-step plan of action (outlined on page 12) to document the severity of the problems and to address solutions. This status report covers the work to date which has involved completion of the research phase.