Et tu, Woodruff?

So....the troubles in Atlanta are making headlines across the country and the globe.  Since the announcement of the lockout earlier this month, management has become even more entrenched, seemingly refusing to resume negotiations with the musicians of the orchestra.  Norman Lebrecht notes that the Board of Directors has even called off its regular meeting this month.  There is no progress and one would be hard pressed to expect any very soon.

This must call to mind what seems to be a rather odd organizational model in Atlanta.  The symphony, along with the Alliance Theater and the High Museum of Art, is part of an umbrella organization, the Woodruff Arts Center.  On its very slick website, the Woodruff claims that each year, these centers of artistic excellence play host to over 1.2 million patrons at the Woodruff Arts Center’s Midtown Atlanta location, one of the only arts centers in the U.S. to host both visual and performing arts on a single campus.  Given the state of the symphony, one is left to wonder, is this a good thing?

Atlanta Symphony Hall, roughly 1,700 seats
To me, given the alternatives, kind of dull.....

The website also reminds readers of the terrible tragedy--a 1962 plane crash that virtually wiped out the city's arts leaders--that eventually led to the creation of the Woodruff, at its inception a bold vision of a synergistic relationship among arts organizations.  BUT, has this caused more problems than it has solved.  As a part of the Woodruff, how much autonomy does the symphony truly have?  The Center announced in June a record-breaking annual campaign that raised over $9 million.  That article goes on to note that the annual campaign is an important part of the more than $30 million raised annually by the Woodruff Arts Center and its arts and education partners.  Thus, one is left to demand, "Show me the money!"

The musicians made huge (to the tune of 14%) wage concessions during the 2012 lockout and, as earlier noted, Woodruff management and ASO CEO Stanley Romanstein, Ph.D (he notes that on nearly every written communication--more on that in the future) insist that there's is an unsustainable model.  The problem is that, in the last two years, nothing has been done to alter the model or remedy the fund raising defects that have resulted in 12 straight years of deficits and increased clearing out of the orchestra's endowment.  And the latest $2 million deficit is on top of that 14% salary reduction, which surely must have saved the organization millions of dollars.

It's obvious that the model is broken and the symphony (or at least its musicians) must consider severing the relationship with the Woodruff, which is trying to balance the competing demands of all of its constituent parts.  Is this conceivable, given the fact that the Arts Center contains the orchestra's performance center?  One must remember that the city is home to significant universities (Emory and Kennesaw State) as well as a wealth of other vibrant arts organizations and venues, the Fox Theater (at over 4,000 seats may be too large) among them.  During the Minnesota Orchestra lockout, those musicians performed at venues on the University of Minnesota campus and other halls that could accommodate their needs.  The Woodruff can ill afford for its hall to sit empty, but in these times, bold moves are in order.  Management won't talk so labor must find a way to carry on and keep their story and their plight in the headlines.

Atlanta's "fabulous Fox"

Other venues:

The Tabernacle, home to many a rock concert--why not?

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center
Home of Atlanta Opera and Atlanta Ballet

Atlanta Civic Center
Cavernous (again over 4,000) but city-owned