The Rhode Island Philharmonic has been entertaining concertgoers with a range of musical performances for 80 seasons. These days, executive director David Beauchesne said filling the concert hall is a challenge. He’s been working to rebuild the audience lost during the pandemic, both subscribers and single-ticket buyers.
“It’s still down quite a bit. We’re still down I’d say about 20 percent versus pre-COVID,” Beauchesne said. “And so we’ve got rebuilding to do. We were down when we first came back, we were down over 50 percent so we are climbing back.”
Beauchesne said they’re also climbing back from the organization’s biggest deficit. The Philharmonic suffered a shortfall of about $900 thousand in 2023 driven in part by declining audiences during the pandemic and increased expenses.
“That’s a non-repeatable event in that if we were to do that again this year, we would go out of business. So we can’t and we won’t,” he said.
It underscores, Beauchesne said, how the arts and culture sector in Rhode Island is struggling to survive.
Barnaby Evans, the founder and executive artistic director of WaterFire, said they were facing hardships prior to the pandemic, which then made it worse.
“One of the things that happened with COVID was these large events that people would come to, people couldn’t do for a year and a half and habits change,” Evans said. “If you’re not in the budget for two years, the budget may not have that line item when you get to year three.”
Evans created WaterFire created 30 years ago. It’s attracted millions of people to downtown Providence – crowds mesmerized by the sight of sparkling bonfires. Evans said WaterFire’s financial troubles have forced the organization to have fewer lightings.
“It’s all driven by what funds are available and trying to stay within budget. There’s no other reason not to be. We would love to do more. The restaurants, the hotels would all love us to do more, but we have to figure out how to cover those costs,” Evans said.
Corporate sponsorships comprise roughly half of WaterFire’s budget, but Evans said many companies that sponsored the event over the past three decades are no longer in Rhode Island.
“We had maybe 15 industries just in the jewelry sector alone. None of them are still here. We had probably 10 companies in manufacturing and technical machining. None of those companies are still here and the banks have nationalized, media has nationalized … so our model of corporate sponsorship continues with some very loyal supporters, but the number of companies downtown that are here to be corporate sponsors and across the state has declined,” Evans said.
The news isn’t all grim. At the Philharmonic, Beauchesne said the hiring of Ruth Reinhardt as the orchestra’s new music director has boosted ticket sales. While they’re still down several full-time positions compared to pre-pandemic times there’s one feature Beauchesne said hasn’t changed.
“What people won’t see is a difference in the quality of what happens in the concert itself,” Beauchesne said. “So maybe there’s a few more spelling mistakes in the program book or things of that nature, but the level of playing on stage, we’ve really tried to make sure that any cuts we’ve made have not impacted artistic quality or the integrity of our education programs.”
Beauchesne wanted Rhode Island state leaders to set aside federal COVID relief money from the American Rescue Plan to help arts organizations in the state. Money, he said, the Philharmonic and other arts groups needed.
“None of those funds were allocated to the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts for any arts-specific sector-wide rebuilding strategy or recovery strategy. There were funds distributed through Rhode Island Commerce, but those typically were for new programming, not for recovery, not to rebuild what had been damaged during the pandemic,” Beauchesne said.
Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D-Warwick) declined Rhode Island PBS Weekly’s request for an interview. In a statement, he said in part, “The state has a strong history of supporting the arts and does so annually in the budget… There are many competing interests for taxpayer support each year, and we have tried to prioritize the most needed and vulnerable while also making long-term investments.”
Beauchesne said he’s not angry or bitter with anyone in the state. Going forward, he plans to talk with state officials about having a more deliberate strategy to boost Rhode Island’s arts sector.
“It’s a $2.4 billion industry, a part of our economy. It’s 18,000 jobs. It generates a tremendous amount of revenue for the state every year,” Beauchesne said. “We feel like the arts need a stronger seat at the table, more visibility so we can be part of brainstorming solutions and innovation for the state. We are not looking for handouts. We are not looking for the arts to be subsidized. We are looking for investment.”
WaterFire, Evans said, is struggling to survive. The state increased its yearly contribution to WaterFire from $375 thousand to $400 thousand during the last fiscal year. Evans said he’d like to see the state increase it again.
“The case we would make for the state is the state makes the bulk of the taxes on hotel rooms and plane flights and gasoline for all those visitors who come to Rhode Island, specifically because of WaterFire,” Evans said. “All of that flows up to the state. So it’d be wonderful if some portion of that came back to us and we’re pleased with what we receive.”
Community support for WaterFire is strong, Evans said. And he’s confident the message is getting out that WaterFire needs help.
“There’s a lot of research now that people need transformative experiences that they engage and share with others. And there’s a lot of research that the sense of awe that you have when you see all those fires and hear the music and interact with the surprises that we put out there, that that’s an important part of building a successful community and we’re looking forward to doing that for many years to come,” Evans said.
