美国国家公共电台 NPR As Shutdown Crawls On, Artists And Nonprofits Fear For Their 'Fragile Industry'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The partial government shutdown is making more people anxious every day, including those in the arts. Theaters, dance companies, symphony orchestras, nonprofit arts organizations worry about the impact on themselves and their audiences, including school kids and families. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has more.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE¹: Dorothy Ryan is managing director of Theatre for a New Audience, based in Brooklyn. For more than a decade, they've been taking Shakespeare to dozens of New York's poorest schools through a program partly funded by a federal agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. This spring, they're planning to introduce students to Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

DOROTHY RYAN: They start by learning the story of the play and learning how to understand and read Shakespeare. And then they come to see the play in special morning matinees that we do.

BLAIR: But Ryan's concerned now that the NEA is closed during the shutdown. Theater for a New Audience has already been awarded a $25,000 grant from the NEA. But here's the thing. They don't get the money until after services have been delivered.

RYAN: We don't have the money in hand. As you can imagine, any nonprofit cultural organization struggles with cash flow if they really need to expend² funds before funds are received. And the question about when the National Endowment for the Arts will be distributing funds is - it really hits home for us.

BLAIR: On its website, the NEA says, despite the shutdown, it will honor all of its fiscal³ year 2019 grants and that it's still accepting applications for 2020. But there's nobody working at either the NEA or the humanities endowment to answer questions. Both agencies give money to thousands of small and large arts and cultural organizations across the country, including NPR. Getting a grant from the NEA or NEH helps them raise funds from other sources. But fundraising is a delicate, time-consuming process. Bob Lynch is head of the advocacy organization Americans for the Arts, which also contributes to NPR.

ROBERT LYNCH: It's a fragile industry too. It's not a rich, moneymaking thing. So any little crack potentially affects people and their planning and their ability to attract other funders - all of that kind of thing. It's a ripple⁴ effect.

BLAIR: Visits from international artists could also be in jeopardy⁵.

BRIAN GOLDSTEIN: You know, it's show business. It's already fraught⁶ with risk. And this is one more complete unpredictable process that could blow up at any moment.

BLAIR: Brian Goldstein is a lawyer with GG Arts Law, a firm that helps international artists secure visas to perform in the United States, mostly in classical, jazz and world music. Goldstein worries a slowdown in an already complex process will make American venues⁷ nervous about programming foreign artists altogether.

GOLDSTEIN: We already have the venues calling our office every day. What's going to happen? What do we do? When do we pull the plug?

RYAN: For now, visa and passport services remain open. According to a State Department spokesperson, they'll stay open, quote, "as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations." Art lovers have had to cancel trips to those free museums and galleries that are federally funded. That includes "The Art Of Burning Man," a blockbuster show at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery and a show of works by photographer Gordon Parks at the National Gallery of Art. Both are closed during the shutdown. Jill Rorem and her family spent months planning a trip to Washington, D.C., from their home in Chicago during her daughter's winter break.

JILL ROREM: We decided⁸ not to go after the shutdown because we didn't need to travel and spend all that money on hotel rooms and fancy meals if we weren't going to get the cultural and educational aspect of it.

BLAIR: Rorem says they lost about $1,000 rescheduling their trip to D.C. for April. She's optimistic the shutdown will be over by then. If not, she hopes they'll at least get to see the cherry blossoms. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MEAN LADY SONG "I WILL MARRY YOU")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 expend   

vt.花费，消费，消耗

参考例句：

• Don't expend all your time on such a useless job.不要把时间消耗在这种无用的工作上。
• They expend all their strength in trying to climb out.他们费尽全力想爬出来。

3 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

4 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

5 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

6 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

7 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。