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7/11/2007
Thrivent's out, you and I are IT
Last week lots of folks mulled the “almost triumphant” (as one FoxPolitics reader described it) headline that announced Thrivent was completely pulling arts programming funding from our communities. I shared emails received from readers – and many more commented via the web site.
(Do you think it’s funny that not one word of opinion from the Post-Crescent appeared about this? – Well, one letter from a reader. Or did I miss it? Not even a PC “Thumbs Up or Down” – hmmm… would it have been an Up or a Down? And should the question be asked - how much in advertising dollars does Thrivent spend with the Post-Crescent?)
Back to comments. Henry Scheig, former longtime president of AAL, lamented the merger between AAL and Lutheran Brotherhood, commenting “I have been saddened by the numerous Lutheran Brotherhood-favoring decisions over the years…. Lutheran Brotherhood had everything to gain by the merger. AAL could only lose and the AAL members have…. I won’t go on further but after spending 40 years with a great organization that doesn’t exist anymore, I am VERY SAD.”
Vivian Huth commented “The big question for all is: How do we respond? What do we do to replace this loss of funding?.... Will the PAC react by cutting overhead???????”
Well, I don’t know about the PAC cutting its overhead (though FoxPolitics.net has repeatedly suggested it!). But Vivian has the question right – how do we respond?
Below are pieces of a Christmas-time, 2004 letter from Lee Parker, longtime arts activist, to the Post-Crescent. Prescient in her thoughts, Lee issues just exactly the right challenge for today, a challenge to all of us - and most especially to those closely connected to the Community Foundation.
Can we think “out of the box” here?.... Can the Fox Valley do this? I believe we can. How about these ideas?
Given that the Community Foundation [for the Fox Valley Region Inc.] is expert at financial management, and given the need for a funded arts re-granting program here in the Valley, could an endowed fund under the aegis of the Foundation be created? The model here is the stable, successful Women’s Fund.
Could we create a Fox Valley Arts Board, ala the Wisconsin Arts Board, within the Community Foundation?
Could we create a re-granting fund through a challenge grant from the Foundation which would match dollar-for-dollar all monies raised from the Fox Valley Communities, until a [sufficient] endowment is in place?
Thrivent’s announcement may well be the death knell of many struggling arts organizations in our midst. We must not let it be. No complicated suggestions. Simple. No more lamenting. If ever an opportunity to step up, the time is now. Dig deeply into our pockets – hopefully encouraged and led by our effective, thriving, well-managed, very own Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.
COMMENTS
Take a look at the Appleton Boy Choir home page. Thrivent is the only organization mentioned as a major contributor.
Wow. Perfect illustration Dale. Thanks. JE
Dale (Wed Jul 11 08:50:19 2007)
Just to respond to Dale's remark above, at the Appleton boy's Choir, it says they are a member of Arts Network Downtown (AND.)
The page link is dead. What is AND? I certainly have never heard of it.
Perhaps the Post Crescent is out of touch with the community and so fails to respond to local issues. On the other hand, I would expect The Scene to respond to this editorially and will be looking forward to that.
More to the point, I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the room where such an important decision was made. Might it actually be that funding was pulled for the art-as-entertainment industry which has exploited and bowdlerized the nature of the arts experience here?
They can pick up all those lions around town any time now.
Wait a minute Lon. I'm assuming you reference the PAC when you speak of bowdlerizing the arts experience. What about the Appleton Boys Choir? The White Heron Chorale? The Symphony? Attic Theatre? JE
Lon Ponschock (Wed Jul 11 11:18:48 2007)
A good point. And yes, my finger pointing was aimed at the FCPAC. (The insiders call it The Center, never the PAC by the way.)
I am not the arts maven I pretend to be. :-)
But I'll wager that beneath all those tuxedos and ball gowns worn by the various choir groups there's enough cash to sponsor their own programs. Once the tax deductible largess is removed from these programs (which is just another corporate tax dodge anyway) then the true value of the programs will emerge.
Please don't pull at my heart strings with stories of little Johnny in his best bib and tucker while that sucking sound at "The Center" gets louder and louder.
Lon Ponschock (Wed Jul 11 14:04:02 2007)
Today's article about Thrivent seems a bit out of bounds. Thrivent is free to choose whichever causes it wants to benefit. I understand it has elected to focus on alleviating the manifestations of poverty as its strategic priority. Hard to complain about such a choice. As one who voluntarily left Thrivent over philosophical differences, I am hardly an advocate for the company. Nevertheless I think the context of the article and inclusion of words from Hank Schieg imply Thrivent is acting unfairly. For many years AAL and Thrivent subsidized the Fox Cities communities in various ways. Even the community foundation is a result of this organization's lead. But nothing lasts forever. Perhaps the lesson here is to watch for unhealthy dependencies wherein programs cannot stand on their own absent a broad and diverse base of support.
Very good point. Well said. JE
Dennis (Wed Jul 11 17:03:03)
Of course, it could just be that half The Post-Crescent's opinion staff was on vacation last week, and Wednesday - the board's traditional meeting day - was a holiday so it did not meet, and the paper didn't want to comment on such an important issue without debating it thoroughly with the editorial board.
Nope, much easier to go with the conspiracy theories. :)
I look forward to your comments when they appear. It's an important issue. Do you think it's interesting that Thrivent chose the Friday before the holiday week to make their announcement? JE
Matt Neistein (Fri Jul 13 09:10:50 2007)
The Post-Crescent's editorial board has responded to Thrivent's decision. See the Sunday July 15th edition for a well written and balanced review.
Yup I saw it Ron, and included it in FoxPolitics News for 7/16. I thought the P/C editorial echoed FoxPolitics. JE
Ron Tank (Mon Jul 16 09:27:56 2007)
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