Hurricane Katrina September 2005 Cultural Happenings

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has been collecting information on the many efforts within the cultural community to assist with general and arts-specific relief for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Cultural Alliance members along with their East coast contemporaries began offering immediate assistance to established disaster relief organizations such as the American Red Cross as early as September 1, 2005. Between September 1st and September 11th, seven arts-based fundraisers were held.

For the entire month of September, the Gallery at Cedar Hollow in Chester County will donate 10% of all sales to disaster relief. Between the first and the ninth of the month, the University of the Arts collected donations at the UArts Finance Office on the second floor of Hamilton Hall that will be given to the American Red Cross. On September 7th, the Arden Theatre, with support from Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, donated 100 % of the proceeds from their pay-what-you-can performance of Loot. Fifty percent of the Arden funds went to the American Red Cross and the other fifty percent went to EgoPo, a New Orleans Company performing in the Live Arts Festival.

Between September 9th and 30th, WHYY will run a series of short television segments to encourage viewers to make donations to the American Red Cross. On September 10th, Hedgerow Theatre donated all of the proceeds from that day’s performances to disaster relief. That same day, Melody Davis, hosted a Relief Party in Harrisburg where she auctioned arts objects to raise funds for the American Red Cross. On September 11th, JD Dumpson Productions held a Concert Benefiting the Victims of Katrina at Bright Hope Baptist Church from 3:00 pm – to 5:00 pm. All proceeds from the event were administered through the National Black United Fund.

Upcoming relief fundraisers include a weekend of benefit concerts free to Philadelphia-based evacuees at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, an all day dance benefit presented by Music & Motion on September 17th, the season opener of the Philadelphia Songwriters Project on September 20th, and a benefit concert hosted by the Philadelphia Boys Choir and the Mt. Airy Cogic on September 25th.

One area foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, has already donated $1 Million to the American Red Cross, and several organizations further south have organized a variety of relief projects. The Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts is coordinating a ticket/admission donation effort with Travelers Aid Atlanta to provide evacuees staying in Atlanta with arts and cultural experiences. The Southern Arts Federation has established an Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists residing in the devastated Gulf Coast communities. Swine Palace, the professional theatre company affiliated with the Louisiana State University Department of Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is leading a nationwide effort for arts organizations to participate in their Arts United for Hurricane Relief Program.

Other arts organizations have offered their web resources as clearinghouses for information about how the Gulf Coast cultural world is faring in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. ARTSJournal has set up a page of links to stories and resources including Drew McManus’s help center for Gulf Coast-area musicians. The American Association of Museums is posting information about the numerous museums and other cultural institutions in the Gulf Coast-area. Americans for the Arts (AFTA) has established an online bulletin board to gather and disseminate information about member organizations in the affected Gulf Coast region. AFTA is also recommending that their members make contributions to the Southern Arts Federation Emergency Relief Fund and to the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), which is prepared to respond to the needs of professional craft artists who have suffered Katrina-related losses.

Finally, the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) is working with the American Institute for Conservation’s Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Committee and the Southeast Regional Conservation Association (SERCA) on an multi-aid effort that includes assistance to colleagues of cultural institutions affected by Katrina, collecting damage reports, identifying storage facilities and triage areas, and soliciting donations.

Upcoming Katrina Benefit Events are featured on PhillyFunGuide.com

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