>>This week on NewsNight a look at the year in the arts in central Florida from the ongoing fallout of the Basquiat exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art to record county arts funding.

From a new name for the Orlando Rep. to 50 years of the Orlando Ballet, a discussion of the highs and lows in the region's cultural life in 2023.

NewsNight starts now.

Hello, I'm Steve Mort, and welcome to a special edition of NewsNight.

Joining us in the studio this week, Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida.

Thank you so much for coming in, Jennifer.

Really appreciate your time, Terrence Hunter, CEO of Central Florida Community Arts is also here.

Good to see you again, Terrence.

>>Good to be back.

>>And Mett Palm writes about the arts for the Orlando Sentinel.

Thank you for being here as well, Matt.

>>My pleasure.

>>Thanks for your time today, guys.

Really appreciate it.

First tonight, the health of central Florida's arts ecosystem.

Orange County announced record funding for cultural tourism this year, while a major study found, among other things, that individual contributions to the arts in the region are far lower than the national average.

So let's get into all of this.

And Jennifer, it seems like you'd be a good person to start on this one.

And let's start with that study from United Arts in Orange County.

I think it was carried out by the DeVos Institute for Arts Management right at the University of Maryland.

Let's begin with that finding that I that I just mentioned there.

Why is local and county funding good but individual giving to the arts kind of lax compared to other places of a similar size?

>>Well, first of all, we need to remember that 75 million people are visiting central Florida and Orlando and Orange County to our region.

So, you know, our population is is increased every week by visitors.

So we are serving, you know, major four and a half million people versus the one and a half million, 2 million that live here.

So so it's hard to really compare us with that when you look at public funding.

So we have a lot of resources because of wouldn't being the number one tourism destination in the world.

So we're lucky that we have a lot of public resources that are by our state statue can be designated to arts and cultural tourism.

What we have learned is that private philanthropy in central Florida is first generation and generosity starts at home.

So if in your family you didn't have the resources to give outside of the needs of your immediate family or maybe your faith, you're not familiar with the arts as a place to make an investment in your charitable dollars.

>>I mean, why is that?

Is it just because we're a young community?

>>Young community, absolutely.

So when you think about, you know, first of all, from a corporate standpoint of view, we don't have the big hitting national headquarters like like other major cities do that were in the study.

Charlotte, Pittsburgh.

>>Big Fortune-- >>Big Fortune 500 companies who invest millions of dollars in the arts in their communities every single year.

So not just one time to build something great, but but that so so we've got to work with our community to help give them entry points into the arts as a place for charitable giving.

>>What do you think Terrence as someone who who leads an organization.

I mean, one of the recommendations is to build a culture of individual and corporate philanthropy, as Jennifer mentioned there.

I mean, where does the arts community start in trying to build something like that in your mind?

>>It starts on the stage or it starts in the exhibition.

It starts at the entry point with which our patrons are experiencing our art forms long before we can support a mission, we have to be convinced of the mission's value.

And I'll add to Jennifer's comments.

I think in our community, in the arts community, specifically here, we're experiencing a level of an opportunity to rebuild public trust in some arts organizations.

And I do think that is impacting philanthropy across the sector because we've experienced a number of leadership transitions.

But also there have been other issues that have arisen in the last three years or so.

>>For sure.

Matt, the study's authors also recommend more collaboration and synergy between small and large organizations.

I'm wondering, as somebody who touches a lot of arts organizations in your work, whether you see much of that going on?

>>It is.

It's a growing area of interest for sure, and I do see more now than I have in the past, without question, that arts groups are trying to work together, pool their resources, come up with something special by by working together.

But if that type of collaboration faces the same kind of challenges almost as a lack of development officers, collaboration takes staff.

It takes people to be organizing it, to be in constant-- >>It doesn't just happens, right?

>>Right.

And with these some of these organizations run with such a lean staff, they don't have the people power to really do a large scale collaboration.

It's just sort of beyond their reach at this point.

>>Yeah.

How much of this do you guys think is a marketing issue?

I mean, one of the recommendations here was sort of more robust institutional marketing efforts sort of to build national awareness as a cultural destination.

Do you agree?

>>Absolutely.

Well, you know, one of the things as well that I mentioned earlier about being the top destination in the world for tourists, we're also advertising at MSA that has that kind of very costly, expensive advertising, but it's also understanding who the consumers are.

You know, the study also told us that 50% of our population are millennials or younger.

And we know that 61% of our population are diverse.

You know, if we don't if we don't make sure that the people here love the arts, they won't convince others to come and visit the arts here.

>>It's difficult in a sense, maybe, to find the disposable income among especially our younger population, because all the studies also show when you look at the context of our community as a whole, you know, lowest median wages out of the 50 largest metro areas, the price of renting an apartment here is exorbitant.

I mean, people have to have roommates.

They live in tiny places.

You know, there's a lot of issues in our basic economic structure here that might preclude people from giving to the arts.

And it makes it almost more imperative that cultural organizations really get across how important they are to sort of building the soul of the community or what the value they add to our lives.

>>What do you think, Terrence?

>>I think it is also something of a scheduling issue.

We have limited venues in our community that allow multiple opportunities for all of our organizations to perform or have performances in tandem, which limits the number of opportunities for visitors and residents alike to participate in events around town.

>>Let's talk a bit more about money.

I mean, Jennifer, United Arts beat it $6 million fundraising goal, right?

That freed up an additional I think half a million from from Orange County, about a $2 million increase from last year.

How did you pull that off, given the challenges that we face?

>>Well, we have 34 partners that are in the collaborative campaign.

So United Arts leads that.

We facilitate it, we administer it.

But all of those organizations are out there collectively with a message during the collaborative campaign.

Now's the time to give to the arts.

So we also provide a 15% match.

So it motivates the donors to give through the collaborative campaign.

I mean, our entire sector raises as a as raises about $40 million a year.

So only 6 million of that comes from the collaborative campaign.

So the arts are raising a lot of money in our community.

And through the collaborative campaign, new people give to that may not know about all the organizations or, you know, it's a way to get new donors to get involved in the arts.

So it's a it's really to raise awareness of the arts, need resources, and you can contribute to the local arts through that, through the collaborative campaign.

>>And a lot of our organizations are finding ways to to revisit our business models, which I know we can we can speak to more in a bit.

But I also want to add that United Arts has done a really great job of empowering smaller organizations to participate in the collaborative campaign organizations that have not previously to increase our collective power as as a sector.

>>All important issues, and I want to talk about it more, but we we should move on and talk about some other things.

Be sure to join this conversation, meanwhile, on social media, we're at WUCFTV, on Facebook, X, and also on Instagram.

All right.

Next tonight, Central Florida's arts organizations in the news this year.

First, the Orlando Museum of Art in August filed a lawsuit against its former director and the owners of the art collection that was part of the now infamous Heroes and Monsters exhibit.

The FBI, of course, seized works from the Orlando Museum of Art in 2022.

This year, a California auctioneer admitted making 20 to 30 forgeries marketed as works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and shown at the Museum of Art.

He was sentenced to probation and community service in August.

Let me come to you on this one, Matt.

You've kind of covered this story since the start, and we'll get to discussions over a potential settlement in a moment.

But first, just outline the lawsuit that was filed by the Museum of Art this year.

>>Well, the Museum of Art filed this suit saying that it has been grievously damaged by the resulting publicity.

I mean, it was a scandal.

We throw that word around.

But this was a legitimate scandal in the art world, a major museum showing art that, you know, was not necessarily authenticated correctly.

>>You don't want the FBI coming in and taking things off your walls.

>>It's not something any institution wants.

But the thrust of their lawsuit is that their former executive director was collaborating with the owners of the art to create this exhibition in a way to increase the the credibility of the art, to increase its value, and therefore later profit from selling the art.

So the thrust is, I guess, is the director and these owners were putting their own financial needs ahead of the museum's needs.

Now, the defendants in this case have come back very strongly and said that was not the case, that there was no collusion, there was no collaboration.

And beyond that, they maintain that the art is authentic.

Despite the plea deal reached with the California auctioneer.

>>And you wrote recently that the museum is negotiating a potential settlement there.

What have you learned?

>>Well, what we with not much because, you know, when you ever know that you're negotiating a legal settlement, there's not really any public comment on it.

But it is in the court documents.

They are meeting and they are doing that.

But I don't think that's going to preclude the defendants from filing their own response to the case.

They've not filed anything formally with the courts yet, but I would expect that at any time.

>>And in fact, shortly after we recorded this program, The Sentinel did get word that the former museum director, Aaron De Groft has countersued the Orlando Museum of Art, accusing the museum of firing him illegally and orchestrating a campaign, quote, to destroy him.

>>Just briefly, Jennifer, when we talked about this last year, you sort of said that this could be kind of a teachable moment for nonprofits.

I'm paraphrasing you there, but do you think there have been other groups that have taken stock of what's happened over the last year, the Orlando Museum of Art?

>>Well, absolutely.

And actually, the National Association of Museums is is leaning on the Museum of Art to guide them and to set up workshops and policies and help other museums in our country, because, I mean, even the National Gallery in our country announced in February that they had a fraudulent painting in their collection.

This is not just the Orlando Art Museum.

So there are a couple things.

So the national museums are are the association is really looking at the Orlando Art Museum as a as a learning opportunity.

But also locally, how are we managing crisis public relations?

And in the nonprofit sector here, we are not that sophisticated.

And, you know, the art museum hired a public relations firm.

They were in a federal investigation.

They couldn't talk about it.

>>That's very hard to do-- >>It was seen as very hard to do when you have messaging.

And we encourage them to stay focused on their mission.

You know, their summer camps were sold out.

They have 5,000 more visitors than they had pre-pandemic.

So people still love the art museum.

And we are the whole community suffered from this experience.

And it's going to take the whole community to get beyond it.

>>Terence, we discussed last year the need for diversity in the arts community.

I mean, there were several performances this year that celebrated diversity.

I think it was a musical called Grace, right at the Dr. Phillips Center, focused on the black family and culture.

Are you pleased with what you're seeing?

>>I am.

I think a lot of our a lot of my colleagues at cultural organizations across the community did a brilliant job of trying to increase the diversity and representation in all of our offerings.

I think we have found that the community isn't as ready for as many of those productions that we that we planned.

And so I know for me and my colleagues, we've been talking about ways to balance the need to increase diversity and representation, while also making sure that we meet the financial goals to keep our organization sustainable.

>>But that arts ecology study that we discussed earlier finds that Orange County has very few organizations that primarily serve BIPOC communities.

Why is that, do you think?

And and what does the community still need to do?

>>Well, United Arts had 26 BIPOC nonprofit organizations apply for our diversity in the arts grants.

So what we found, though, is that they don't have the strength that the governance, the financial reports, the constant programming because they're found their founders are running the organizations.

They want to be creative.

They don't want to run a business.

And so one of the recommendations of the study was to start an incubator that helps these emerging nonprofits, whether they're BIPOC or not, they don't have full time finance directors and development officers and grant writers and marketing experts.

And and so we've got to figure out as a sector and even organizations that have been around for a long time still can't afford full time back of house, you know, administrative support.

So we're going to be looking at that.

But we have we have 26 legitimate BIPOC nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that are operating in this community.

And some that have been around for 20, 20-25 years.

We have as a community have to figure this out.

>>Well, and it should be mentioned that Orlando Fringe is working on an incubator program of that kind with their new downtown art space that was part of their deal with the city when they took over that space was to use it to help up and coming groups to champion diversity.

The diversity of the city and the region.

And coming in this next year, we will see some of the results of that as some of these young groups are working with Fringe and being mentored by them and taking advantage of their back of house and their experience will start putting on their productions there.

>>Matt, I want to talk about drag for a minute.

I mean, there was a lot of talk this year about a law that Governor DeSantis signed in May.

It was called the Protection of Children Law.

Critics believe that it specifically targeted drag shows prohibits admitting anyone under the age of 18 to what the law calls, quote, an adult live performance.

But there's concern amongst arts groups, right, about this.

What is that concern?

And why do some think it might affect them?

>>Right.

Well, I think the idea that it was targeted at drag shows came about or drag performance came about because this all started with an uproar at the Plaza Live, which is owned by the Phil - Orlando Philharmonic here.

And that was a very specifically about a drag show.

It was a holiday drag show, I believe that someone saw a parent bring a child to and objected.

So the idea that they're enforcing or parole patrolling shows, looking for drag, I think it just sends a chilling effect to the arts groups in general.

And it did worry them to the point where a lot of theaters I mean, on completely innocuous shows, but where, you know, a male actor has to wear clothing of the opposite gender started limiting audiences to only 18 and over because know we're afraid of of running afoul of these new laws which you know critics would argue are vague and not very well defined onto what makes an adult performance, what makes, you know, what would violate the spirit of the law.

>>Terrence, what do you think?

>>I think it has been detrimental to a lot of our organizations because we've had to really consider what we put on stage and who we allow in those performances.

And access is is tantamount.

It's key for not just Central Florida Community Arts, but for every arts organization and to imagine limiting admissions to a show like Kinky Boots-- >>Which sold out.

>>Sold out.

>>Every show.

>>Thankfully, it's hard to do.

It's hard to do, but no organization wants to risk their reputation or risk the potential ire of our of our government simply because we're producing art.

>>And an update to this story.

The U.S. Supreme Court on November 16th denied Florida's request to allow authorities to temporarily enforce the legislation.

That means the state cannot enforce it anywhere in Florida, while Hamburger Mary's case challenging the law continues.

>>I just wanted to touch on, quickly, a couple of other interesting news stories.

The Orlando Rep changed its name this year.

That must've been quite an undertaking.

What do you think of that name change, too?

I think it's what the Orlando Family Stage.

>>The Orlando Family Stage.

And I think they they've changed their names a couple times.

So this is they've had this name, I believe, for 14 or 20 years.

But, you know, there's nothing wrong with rebranding and renaming.

And I think that they wanted to.

The Orlando Rep does not really define who they are in their programing.

>>And they weren't a true repertory theater in the first place.

It's a really sort of false advertising in sense.

>>So it's kind of a better it really positions them to live in to their mission.

>>Let me just finish off with 50 years of the Orlando Ballet.

Of course, they had a big event at the Dr. Phillips, and it's quite a milestone.

And I wonder where you see the ballet now and the progress that it's made and that and that and the challenges that it's made over the years.

I'll start with you, Matt.

>>Well, I've >>You've covered them a long time.

>>I've covered a lots of lots of ups and downs of the Orlando Ballet.

I mean, to the point of really thinking they were not going to make it.

You know, they've had some financial difficulties that seemed insurmountable, but yet, like, you know, a great play or a great story, they surmounted them and they're stronger than ever, I believe.

I mean, when you look at their programing, the strength of the company, the plans they have going forward, the strategic work they're doing, and you can we'll really see that in Florida this year.

They have invested millions of dollars in a new Nutcracker production that will premiere in the holiday season.

They obviously the ballet obviously plans to stick around, but they really have invested in an entire new production, new sets, new costumes, you know, making something really special that will help them grow in the future.

What do you guys think?

>>I think the ballet has done tremendous work over the years, and I think we have to applaud them, particularly for their First Steps program, which is teaching young people across our community about the power of dance in not traditional dance classes.

Right.

Specifically in communities of color.

And I think that goes a long way towards increasing representation in dance for years to come, while also exposing families to the ballet today.

>>Absolutely.

They're one of the top ballet professional ballet companies in America.

That's something to be proud of.

They built that with having incredible productions, but also having a wonderful school.

I mean, they are accredited by the American Ballet Theater.

They are - they're there every single day, have a standard of excellence in their ballet classes, meeting people where they are through the Steps program.

They are working very hard to make sure that they have sustainability, but that every day that people have an opportunity to experience excellence.

>>Certainly encouraging times, it seems, at the Orlando Ballet, you can find a link to United Arts of Central Florida, Central Florida Community Arts and Matt's work at the Orlando Sentinel on our website.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

I want to finish up tonight by talking a little bit about what you guys are looking forward to.

And let's start with the holiday season.

There's always so much going on with the arts community.

Matt, I'll start with you.

What are you looking forward to for the 2023 holiday season?

>>The holiday season?

Well, I kind of already gave it away because the big story really is going to be a brand new multimillion dollar nutcracker.

I mean, The Nutcracker is the holidays to a lot of people.

And to have this new state of the art production will be exciting to a lot of celebrators.

>>Yeah.

What do you think, Terrence?

>>Yes.

I'll do a shameless plug for Central Florida Community Arts and our annual holiday extravaganza, Christmas at the Movies.

Yeah, very much looking forward to that.

But along with other productions like Claire in The Chocolate Nutcracker, The Office Holiday Christmas Party and Dickens by Candlelight, that one's coming back too.

>>Beautiful.

Absolutely.

I would have to say The Nutcracker.

I that's just something that to have all new sets.

Orlando Ballet sets were 30 years old and they came from China before that.

So.

So it's an it's not just sets and costumes.

They're changing the whole the the whole experience of the performance and being more inclusive and telling this the story of The Nutcracker.

So I'm really excited to see the beauty of those new sets.

>>What about 2024?

What's on your radar for that?

For the new Year?

>>Oh, yeah.

Put me on the spot now.

Yeah, well, I'm excited to see the Winter Mini Fringe Festival, which comes right at the top of the new year in January.

There - you know, there's still new in this downtown space and they're still sort of wrapping their heads around it.

But this will be a major thing to be happening there.

And just the progress they've already made in designing the space like seating areas, these comfy couches and chairs, and they re theme and decorate it for every production they have.

And they're kind of in a groove of making it a real welcoming, inviting space for everyone, for anyone and everyone.

So I think this festival is going to be a real crowd pleaser.

>>Terence?

>>I'm going to go a little off of world.

Yes, always.

Yeah, always.

We are taking our choir to Steinmetz Hall for the first time.

They are doing a show called Hooray for Hollywood.

So the best of Hollywood music.

But I am also looking forward to spending time at the Dr. Philip Center next year for UCF celebrates the arts.

That is one of my favorite events.

>>Absolutely.

Number one, where the Plaza live is going to open after it's after its-- >>Big renovation >>Renovation.

So excited to see that.

United Arts, we'll be celebrating our 35th year as a united campaign for the arts.

So that's that's exciting.

And, you know, just looking for new ways, especially this cultural tourism initiative.

I think we're going to really see some new partnerships, some focus on those hot cultural destinations like Loch Haven that's attracting a million and a half people a year.

But nobody realizes what a solid destination that is.

And Winter Park and all the beautiful destinations we have for tourists.

So I've looking forward-- >>Loch Haven Park is amazing, isn't it, with all those all arts organizations just right there.

Let me just finish off by talking about Steinmetz going to be two years in January.

It's probably difficult to to state what the impact has been on the community, but I'm going to ask you guys to do it anyway.

What do you think the impact has been of Steinmetz?

>>Well, personally, my workload has increased.

>>Never a dull moment.

>>I mean, I mean, it's not an exaggeration to say it has been a game changer.

Look, I'm almost speechless.

I'm trying to put it into words.

I mean, really, the caliber of talent that we have attracted because of it.

We just had a huge residency festival there by the London Philharmonic or the Royal Philharmonic with, you know, various superstars from all sorts of genres of music.

I mean, the quality of people coming in I think has increased, which of course is great for audiences here.

But also they have made it accessible and available to many local organizations, which sort of elevates their work.

I mean, when you're when you walk into that space, you can't help but be inspired to give the extra 20% over the extra 10% you're already giving Terrence pointed out your choir is going to experience that-- >>One of the various organizations is you.

>>Right.

Yeah, Yes, absolutely.

And I know for us that the impact of Steinmetz Hall is a little different because we are a community organization, which means people like you and you and you can find themselves on stage in Steinmetz Hall, which is not an experience that this that would have been possible in this community just a few years ago.

>>The acoustics for me is one of the most amazing things of the Steinmetz Hall.

A reminder be sure to head on over to our website to see this or any previous episode of NewsNight plus lots more content.

Visit us online at wucf.org/newsnight along the bottom of your screen.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks for Jennifer Evins from United Arts.

Thanks so much for coming in, Jennifer.

Terence Hunter from Central Florida Community Arts, thank you for being here as well Terrence and Matt Parham from the Orlando Sentinel, really appreciate your time today, guys.

It's been a really interesting discussion about the arts community here in central Florida.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

In the meantime, from all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.