One of the most crucial, yet often overlooked, questions that needs to be asked by anyone starting an arts organization is . . . Where are we going to produce our art?
Placing your theatre company or visual arts gallery in the right place can make getting your organization off the ground 10 times easier then it would be otherwise.
For example, my day job is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. In a given year 30% or higher of our audience comes from the zip codes that make up Hyde Park and surrounding neighborhoods.
So while the theatre I work for has a positive reputation both in the state and nationally, a significant part of our money comes from the people just a few miles from our doors.
If your arts organization can build a strong local base then that base can carry you much further then tourist dollars, or ticket sales from individuals that leave 25 miles away from your organization.
So how do you identify a good location?
One way is to see if the location has a lot of individuals who fit the profile of the typical arts patron.
If you selected location doesn't have a lot of those people then that DOESN'T mean you should go there. It just means you shouldn't rely on ticket sales to make up a significant part of your budget, at least in the short term.
Instead you may have to lean on increased funding from foundations to support your work.
The good news is that many foundations love supporting art that is produced to serve underrepresented neighborhoods.
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