When will the Palladium ever be self-sustaining?
Unlike many performing arts centers, the Palladium was established before an endowment was in place to help support its mission and its building project. Typically, it takes years for such an effort to get underway, gain traction and ultimately raise enough money to start a project.
The City of Carmel made the bold decision to move forward with construction of the Palladium and the two theater buildings – altogether referred to as the Center for the Performing Arts – despite the fact there was no such supporting endowment.
The reasons behind doing this are related to the quality of life strategy that has helped attract corporate headquarters and businesses that offer good-paying jobs to a workforce that continues to choose Carmel over other cities who have not invested in themselves in this
We are starting to see more support for the Center’s mission through key corporate sponsorships and increased popularity and ticket sales. way.
We are starting to see more support for the Center’s mission through key corporate sponsorships and increased popularity and ticket sales. We also celebrated the huge gift of the Asherwood Estate to the Songbook Foundation, a gift that we hope will spark others in the future.
We do hope that the Center will continue to make progress in fund-raising and building its endowment in order to lessen its need for public support. But make no mistake, the Palladium and the Center are probably a long way away from being self-supporting. History of other such venues in other major cities have shown that the public arts almost always rely on some public support in order to survive or thrive in a competitive market that offers so much to do.
We believe the wonderful programs, the educational aspects of its mission and the unique mission of the American Songbook Foundation – which holds the promise of making Carmel a national destination for fans of that particular genre of music and entertainment – is well worth the support provided by the City.
_____________________________________________
Authored by Laura Campbell, Ron Carter, Sue Finkam, Anthony Green, Bruce Kimball, Kevin Rider and Jeff Worrell