I’ve asked Francis Timlin, our Seattle-based Moderator, for his thoughts on this article: <P><B>THE ARTS: No parties, no names, just generosity</B><BR>From the Financial Times<P><BR>Peter Donnelley raises money for the arts. He lays it straight on the line to prospective contributors: "There is no sponsorship; no parties; no names" - just the knowledge for the companies, trusts, and individuals that give that they are helping to improve the quality of life in the local community.<BR>The community is Seattle, one of the most optimistic and progressive cities in the US, bursting with civic pride, and quick to point out that, with a population of a little over 500,000, it supports seven professional theatre companies; the most recorded orchestra in the US (the Seattle Symphony); the fifth largest dance company (Pacific Northwest Ballet); plus Seattle Opera, which every summer attracts a global audience to its performances of Wagner's Ring cycle.<BR>As well as local pride Donnelley can, in theory, tap into other singular advantages: Seattle is home to two of the richest billionaires in the world, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft, plus one of the top American companies, Boeing, and any number of new rich entrepreneurs spawned by its flourishing healthcare industry.<P><A HREF="http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020401001341&query=ballet" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

This is a fair overview. Peter's last name is consistently misspelled (it is Donnelly). Are there specific areas that you would like to have elaborated?

Remember me, I live in Seattle too! Ha. I thought I'd put my two cents in to the discussion of local economy relating to arts reveneue. My take is that the ecomomy here is taking a hit here, like everywhere else. I've noticed a lot more vacancy signs, for both leases on homes/apartments and commerical properties. In one upscacle area, Belltown, there is huge condominium building frenzy. Only problem is, many are remaining empty, ie, un-rented. I believe there is an "out migration" of people, with layoffs from Boeing and many dot-com start ups going belly up. So the arts are feeling the "ripple effect". Hotel/motel tax revenue, which goes to the arts, is also taking a hit. Tourism here is down, like everywhere else in the US. We'll see what happens this summer, which is usually the big tourist season.

My comments below were written before I noticed the link to the complete article and are, for the most part, redundant.<P>It's also worth noting that Seattle is no longer home to Boeing, which moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago in September. Although they did pledge to continue their generous support of local organizations, the statement was made before the events of September 11th and their catastrophic effects on the airline industry. It will be interesting to watch the effects of the absence of the local granddaddy of corporate donors.<p>[This message has been edited by Dave (edited April 02, 2002).]