The art classes at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial are the best deal in town, declared Joe Speight as he was interrupted from applying a coat of blue paint to a ceramic mask he had made.
In fact, he said, the art memorial has been "giving away a little too much" all these years by not charging students to take classes.
"The things they have here for free are just unbelievable," said Speight, 65, from Marlton, N.J. Since 1998, he has taken classes in ceramics, drawing and lithography. "That you just walk in and take free drawing classes with top-notch artists, first-class instruction for basically free is almost ridiculous."
Now the neighborhood institution whose generosity has benefited so many needs the community to return the favor.
The Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St., has been hit by hard times that threaten to end its 105-year tradition of providing tuition-free art classes to children and adults as early as this spring.
The only way the art memorial can avoid this scenario, said executive director Thora Jacobson, is to see an increase in donations from private citizens. All of Fleisher’s foundation, corporate and government resources are tapped out, she added.
"Any [organization] who lives on investment income has a smaller portfolio to work with" during this stagnant economic climate, Jacobson explained. "Our portfolio has dropped; so has everybody else’s."
Other factors also have conspired against Fleisher’s budget.
As the funds in the Fleisher Trust have diminished, Jacobson said, the art memorial’s board of directors has instituted a more conservative spending plan.
Meanwhile, the cost to run the school, studios and exhibits has increased. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is tightening its own budget and now asks Fleisher to pay for services — such as bookkeeping, accounting and editorial and graphic production — that had been free in the past, Jacobson said.
In addition, the cost to insure Fleisher’s campus has increased 38 percent each of the last two years, she said, raising its premiums from $30,000 in 2001 to $54,000 this year. Its utility bills also have increased.
And contributions from students and alums have decreased. Although most of Fleisher’s beginner art classes are free — the school offers 32 classes for adults and 25 for children — students are asked to make a donation.
For adults, the suggested donation is $30, and for children, parents are asked for $15. In past years, Jacobson said, as many as 95 percent of students made this contribution. For the current fall semester, she said, only 65 percent anted up.
Together, these factors have caused a $140,000 gap between Fleisher’s expenditures and its revenues.
Hopes that a recent upswing in the stock market will help the situation are unrealistic, Jacobson said. The art memorial’s trust makes payouts based on the performance of its investments over a three-year span. That means even if the economy booms during the next couple of months, Fleisher’s budget would not feel the effects for several years.
If the additional funding does not come in, Jacobson said, Fleisher’s first step will be to charge tuition for its spring classes.
"We are not trying to guilt people into giving something to Fleisher, but we are hopeful that people understand The Fleisher is a real bona-fide community resource that merits investment," she said.
The school currently offers nearly 60 tuition-free courses, in addition to a selection of intermediate and advanced classes that charge a fee.
More than 4,300 adults and children participate in Fleisher’s classes. Enrollment has increased 39 percent since 2000, Jacobson said. She realizes many students will not be able to continue their art education if Fleisher begins charging tuition, but said it might be the only way the institution can survive.
The tuition rate would be about $210 for a 14-week class that meets once a week for two-and-a-half hours, Jacobson said. The school may split the semester in two seven-week sessions to ease the financial burden on students, she added.
Fleisher has considered other cost-saving methods. Staff salaries account for the biggest budget expense, and Jacobson said the art memorial might eventually be forced to cut employees. As of now, she said, she couldn’t eliminate jobs without sacrificing popular programs or the maintenance of the building and its galleries.
"We run a pretty lean staff at the moment. Nobody is making a boatload of money here," said Jacobson. "We would cut programs if we didn’t think that they were worthwhile, but if you measure it by a yardstick of public participation, people want the programs."
The art memorial has been open since 1898 and is the oldest tuition-free art school in the country. Fleisher teaches fine-arts techniques such as painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography and ceramics to students of all ages, both from inside and outside the city.
Aside from its classes, Fleisher is known for its exhibits, in particular the annual Challenge exhibition series that attracts hundreds of artists to submit work to be selected for display in Fleisher’s gallery.
