
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995                   TAG: 9510120049
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

BUSINESS GIVING MORE TO THE ARTS

Despite cutbacks in areas ranging from jobs to the annual company picnic, business support for the arts is growing. Many companies are giving more than ever as part of an effort to boost their public image as good corporate citizens, according to a nationwide survey being released today.

``The arts are solidly positioned in the new business environment,'' said Judith A. Jedlicka, president of the New York-based Business Committee for the Arts Inc., which sponsored the survey and is giving its annual awards for corporate support of the arts. ``As the business climate has improved, the ability of business to invest in the arts has also increased.''

As many companies have slashed costs and increased efficiency in recent years, their balance sheets have strengthened. The resulting profitability, combined with a relatively healthy economy, has made them more willing to donate to the arts, said committee officials.

Jedlicka said many people mistakenly believe there's a downward trend in corporate arts funding, partly due to confusion over a Republican-led fight in Congress to slash the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Instead, 47 percent of 1,000 companies surveyed last year supported the arts, compared with 38 percent of the 750 companies polled in 1991, according to the telephone survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Median donations doubled to $2,000 during those years, the survey said, and arts-supporting businesses allocated 19 percent of their philanthropic budgets to the arts last year, up from 11 percent in 1991. Median means half gave more and half less.

``Business support to the arts is the strongest it has been since BCA began measuring arts support during the late 1960s,'' said the survey.

In addition, smaller companies have become a force in arts giving in the last decade, reported the survey, which is conducted every three years as part of the committee's effort to boost business investment in the arts.

Nearly 73 percent of the total $875 million given to the arts last year came from companies with $1 million to $50 million in annual revenues, said the survey.

She noted that half the winners of this year's ``Business in the Arts'' awards, presented Wednesday night by the committee and Forbes magazine, were small or middle-size companies.

THE WINNERS

The ``Business in the Arts'' awards, presented by the Business Committee for the Arts Inc. and Forbes magazine, went to:

Founders Award

Corning Inc./Corning Inc. Foundation, Corning, N.Y., for a grant to establish the Corning Museum of Glass.

Sara Lee Corp.'s Sara Lee Foundation, Chicago, Ill., gave $5 million to arts last year and has a long history of support.

|Leadership Award|

Winton M. Blount, board chairman at Blount Inc., Montgomery, Ala., who has given more than $50 million in 30 years to arts groups.

Commitment Award

C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, Costa Mesa, Calif., for giving land and funds to Orange County arts.

Humana Inc./The Humana Foundation, Louisville, Ky., for giving more than $24 million to arts.

New Initiative Award

Bravo arts cable network, Woodbury, N.Y., for campaigns to reach out to schools and at-risk children.

ODS Health Plans, Portland, Ore., a major arts supporter in Oregon.

Innovation Award

Aramark Inc., Philadelphia, for helping launch preschool arts program at Settlement Music School.

by CNB