South blindsided
The HPAC cuts back.
On a recent morning, the Hyde Park Art Center (5020 S Cornell Ave) hummed with activity as people filled the galleries, classrooms, offices and Istria Café in the cheerful, light-filled building—an acclaimed design by Douglas Garofalo that opened in 2006.
But all was not well. Earlier this year, the HPAC’s board of directors cut the institution’s budget by 15 percent. Its staff has shrunk by 25 percent: Three employees were laid off in January, and the director of education’s vacant position won’t be filled. On February 4, the Hyde Park Herald published an open letter signed by more than 60 HPAC “students and supporters” who protested the layoffs, asking why a studio assistant and other employees associated with the institution’s art classes had to lose their jobs.
Five days later, the HPAC held a public forum to address these issues; around 75 to 100 people attended, according to executive director Chuck Thurow. He explains that the HPAC’s crisis occurred because a decade of 10- to 15-percent annual income growth ground to a halt in mid-2008. Even though revenue went up 25 percent after the move to Garofalo’s building, it wasn’t enough to make up for the simultaneous spike in the HPAC’s budget, which increased from $800,000 to $1.3 million. “We made financial plans for that,” Thurow says. “We put aside a reserve fund to cover the deficits we expected to incur with the idea that we’d break even by 2009.”
But in the second half of 2008, gifts from foundations dropped by 30 percent. Corporations and the government hadn’t been contributing much anyway, Thurow says. Even though private donors were “more generous” than usual, the HPAC’s board concluded it had to remove $200,000 from the budget, resulting in the layoffs. “It’s the nature of institutions of this size: The only thing you have that’s flexible, unfortunately, is staff,” he tells us. “We were running a pretty lean operation in terms of building costs, although we’re dramatically decreasing printing and postage, aggressively going to online promotion, turning off the lights earlier. We looked at whether there was a day we could close, but we’re used intensively all seven days.”
Thurow disputes the letter-writers’ claim that the job cuts indicate he and the board are deprioritizing studio art classes; he cites a task force the board set up to research ways to strengthen the school and attract more students. Marketing and communications manager Crystal Pernell plans to increase outreach to local colleges and universities. She and Thurow hope the HPAC’s 70th birthday celebration, 70 Days (April 25–July 4), builds buzz and increases traffic.
When asked whether the HPAC could specify optional admission fees for its free exhibitions and events, Thurow informs us that it would be illegal to do so: “The city’s licensing has gotten very complicated for not-for-profits. You can ask, ‘Please donate,’ but you can’t suggest an amount.” (Efrat Stein, spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection, confirms this is true, if a venue has no Public Place of Amusement (PPA) License.) Thurow continues: “An inspector came by looking for a business that had been out of business for six years and found us. We have this event once a month where artists give presentations on their practice, and we serve drinks and chips. The inspector said that was illegal. It was getting so absurd. I asked, ‘Is it okay if the staff brings their lunch?’ and she said, ‘I’ll get back to you!’?” (We realize the city must ensure public safety, but if it doesn’t do more to accommodate the unique needs of Chicago’s nonprofit arts organizations, they’re going to collapse.)
The HPAC’s recent difficulties haven’t quashed Thurow’s optimism. “We were founded in the middle of the Depression,” he reminds us. “We’re the right institution for this moment.”
For more information, visit hydeparkart.org.
