Despite the darkening financial horizon, University officials said the arts have not yet been yanked out of Duke's programming spotlight.
The main arts players on campus-Duke Performances and the Nasher Museum of Art-will proceed with "business as cautiously usual," said Steve Nowicki, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education.
Although no cuts have been ordered, the University has adopted the practice of moderate spending on the arts in anticipation of dips in funding from outside donors.
"I think everyone's going to have to cut back ultimately," said Scott Lindroth, vice provost for the arts. "So rather than spending a lot of money right off the bat, I've been trying to think strategically about how to use funding available.... Even if funds are reduced, it won't affect my planning."
The University's strategic plan, "Making a Difference," places an emphasis on improving Duke's arts scene. As a leading organization in the initiative, the Nasher will continue to provide a space for art on campus, Lindroth said.
"We're no different than any other aspect of the University," said Kim Rorschach, the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans director of the Nasher. "We are always trying to do the most with the least, and so far our contributions are holding steady. We anticipate corporate support will be a downturn."
Normally, half of the museum's funding comes from the University and the other half comes from outside fundraising, Rorschach added.
Duke Performances has not been slammed by the recession yet because funding comes primarily from the University, not individual donors, and the audiences-students, faculty and Durham community members-have been relatively unaffected by money woes. Greenwald said members of the organization hope to establish a fundraising arm in the future.
He noted, however, that he anticipates the financial crisis will eventually rub off on Duke Performances.
"I think that if the economic downturn continues, everything that is deemed not essential at Duke is going to suffer," he said.
But Greenwald said he is optimistic about continuing to draw audiences from the community because Duke's tickets are competitive with or less expensive than neighboring venues, such as the Carolina Theatre and Durham Performing Arts Center.
Contrary to Duke Performances, almost $1 million for the Nasher's "El Greco to Velazquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III" exhibit was raised from outside University support, Rorschach said.
But the exhibit did not break even-with $462,000 from ticket sales, which does not include revenue from membership and museum store revenues, audio guide sales and supportive contributions. But Rorschach said she still considers attendance at the exhibit a "tremendous success," and she believes the Nasher will continue to bring visibility to the arts at Duke.
"Some projects take more of a chance because of the inherent importance of the project," Lindroth said of the attendance for the El Greco exhibit. "You assume those kinds of things are going to happen, and everything will balance out in the end."
Other universities, however, have already experienced visible ramifications of the slowing economy, and cuts have also played out on the Broadway stage.
Princeton University announced a $300 million cut to its $3.9 billion capital plan, according to a university statement. The cuts resulted in delaying plans for a storage facility for the Princeton University Art Museum and an art museum satellite building that would be part of the new arts and transit campus.
The New York Times reported that the popular Broadway musical Hairspray will close in January to head off dips in ticket sales. Spring Awakening and Spamalot are also closing in January, and Legally Blonde closed in October.
Duke's relative financial security compared to many other colleges is the result of two primary factors, Nowicki said. University administrators have carefully planned Duke's finances, and Duke does not rely on its endowment as much as peer institutions.
"Although we have a pretty good endowment, compared to other schools we have a smaller endowment than we'd like, so we haven't counted on the endowment to fund day-to-day stuff as much as other schools," Nowicki said.
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