Just one week ago we closed our Arabesque festival of Arab art. It was an unprecedented presentation of arts from the 22 Arab nations. Over 800 performers, writers, filmmakers and visual artists were involved. It was one of the most expensive projects we ever mounted at the Kennedy Center.

But it also was one of our most successful, from every perspective. The performances were wonderful, the exhibitions were beautiful, the press attention was remarkable and remarkably positive, the audiences were packed. In all, we sold almost 90% of the tickets available for the festival, about double our original estimate. And we raised all the money needed to cover the expenses of this very large project.

Mounting this huge festival during this period of economic crisis might have seemed foolhardy to some. In my work with troubled arts organizations this year I find so many Boards and even staff leaders reducing programming and eliminating larger projects.

Yet I would argue that mounting Arabesque has allowed the Kennedy Center to be a stronger competitor for the funds that are going to be given to the arts this year and next. Those arts organizations that cancel large projects are more likely to be seen as uninteresting vehicles for major donors.

It is true that we had raised most of the money for Arabesque before the stock market collapse last September. That is one of the many benefits of planning artistic projects, especially large ones, early.

But I worry about arts organizations that are cutting programming most. I worry for their survival during this crisis and I worry for their ability to recover when the economy turns around.

This is one important lesson of Arabesque.