WASHINGTON, D.C.— As financially pressed arts organizations struggle to cope with a battered economy, a Kennedy Center initiative launched in February is expanding its crisis-consulting efforts. The performing arts center’s president, Michael Kaiser, says he will meet with arts leaders in all 50 states and Puerto Rico over the next year, starting with visits to New York; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Indianapolis; and six other cities in the next two months.

Since February, the center's "Arts in Crisis" initiative has offered emergency planning advice for fund-raising, budgeting, marketing, and other strategies. The help is clearly needed. Box office revenues have declined along with donations and endowment income, while countless organizations have been hit with budget deficits. The Baltimore Opera declared bankruptcy and closed its doors this year, the Los Angeles Opera is staging fewer performances after cutting staff (as various museums have done), and the Las Vegas Art Museum recently closed. Furthermore, Kaiser points out, "with so much less being given to the arts, arts organizations have to compete harder for the money that is out there."

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