While the newspapers have been filled with reports of budget cuts, layoffs, programming layoffs, and even closings over the past weeks and months, a wave of articles this week shows that organizations may be weathering the storm better than expected.

Reports looking at arts organizations in Paris, Philadelphia, and Chicago have found that while institutions have widely suffered cutbacks in public and private funding, many are showing steady or even increasing ticket sales or attendance numbers.

"In times of stress . . . the arts offer relief and connect us with our shared values," Tom Kaiden, the chief operating officer of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. A study of local institutions conducted by the group found that while public funding had decreased significantly, about 67 percent of the groups surveyed reported stable or increasing ticket sales, and 79 percent reported stable or increasing memberships or subscriptions.

One city that seems less optimistic is New York. “We're all scrambling to come to terms with how to deal with the weakening financial situation in a way that inflicts the least short- and long-term damage to our institutions,” Arnold Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum, told Crain's New York Business. “There really are no bright spots I can see at this time.”

Whether the difference is fact-based or one of perception is unclear, though New York's dependence on income from wealthy locals, many of whom work in finance, and from tourists may play a role. "Museums have weathered other recessions," Crain's reported. "But this time, funding cutbacks, the collapsing financial markets' impact on endowments and sponsorships, and an expected slump in tourism have raised the threat to unprecedented levels."

In order to help U.S. organizations through the tough times, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. has launched "Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative," a high-tech support service through which arts administrators can talk to the center's personnel about income, shrinking audiences, and other difficulties, reports the Washington Post.

"Organizations that have endowments have seen them cut by one-third," said Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center and the author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations. "In cities like Detroit that are so dependent on the auto industry, the money is gone. Foundations are forced to cut back, and individuals have seen their wealth reduced. People are buying their tickets more selectively, and they are not going out as often."

The prognosis, according to Kaiser, is indeed grim. "You see this multiple whammy," he said. "The length and depth of this economic downturn is unprecedented in my lifetime."