Arts organizations as community disaster resilience assets
Arts and cultural venues are essential community anchors. They routinely manage large crowds, coordinate complex logistics, and maintain deep community relationships—exactly the capabilities needed for effective disaster response. Yet, many lack formal emergency preparedness plans.
At a moment when emergency management systems are seeking to build stronger local and state response capacity, communities have a powerful opportunity to leverage their creative venues and workforces as an asset in enhancing disaster readiness and resilience.
The Moment
Research shows that every dollar invested in preparedness saves an average of $13 in disaster response and recovery costs, yet the complementary strengths between the events and emergency sectors remain untapped in most communities. Recent events have highlighted this gap:
- Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity, with arts organizations often serving as informal community gathering points
- Emergency management capacity is stretched thin, while cultural venues sit underutilized as potential community resources
- Shifting funding priorities are requiring arts organizations to demonstrate community value beyond entertainment
Both sectors are rethinking their financial and operational models. This creates an unprecedented opportunity to formalize what many organizations already do informally: serve as vital community infrastructure.
The Solution
Document and strengthen the community resilience capabilities you already have.
In the unpredictability of the current landscape, there are no guarantees. But communities– and in our experience, both arts organizations and emergency management authorities– have only to gain by documenting and strengthening interoperational capacity to help in times of disaster.
That’s why we’ve created this free tool to help arts and cultural organizations:
- Assess current capacities through a resilience lens, revealing how existing skills and infrastructure position you as a civic asset
- Generate documentation of community value that supports funding applications, donor relationships, and emergency management partnerships
- Facilitate connection with emergency managers and relevant local government agencies to build stronger, more coordinated community responses
The Inspiration
In the 1970s, a radical idea transformed emergency response: what if medics returning from Vietnam received advanced training to deliver life-saving care before patients even reached the hospital? It was unconventional—but within a decade, these early paramedic programs reduced accident-related deaths by nearly 40%, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates tripled. What began as a inspired initiative became the backbone of modern emergency medicine.
Today, we’re at a similar crossroads. Arts venues and event professionals already excel at crowd management, safety, communications, and logistics under pressure—core skills needed in any emergency. With a focused, “last mile” investment in disaster readiness training, we can unlock this sector’s untapped potential as a vital force for community resilience.
Next Steps
1. Take the resilience self-assessment
This tool helps you document your organization’s existing emergency response capabilities and identify areas for growth. Use results to:
- Request letters of support from emergency management officials
- Strengthen grant applications and donor presentations
- Develop formal partnerships with local emergency systems
2. Connect with local emergency management authorities
3. Build your skills
Access free, specialized emergency preparedness training designed for arts and cultural organizations.