Every January Sara Gress, who owns the NC Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, tours the state, visiting artists and potters in search of pieces with which to restock the gallery's walls and shelves after the holiday shopping season.

This year, though, she'll be staying closer to home.

"Usually January is when I have some money to spend on new art, and there are a lot of potters and artists I visit," Gress said. "I won't be doing that as much this month. I feel awful about it; they count on people like me to get them through. They're the ones who really suffer in times like this."

The nationwide recession has hit virtually every sector of the economy. Here in Orange County, the arts are an important element of the local culture and economy, and like everybody else, many of the local working artists, gallery owners, art teachers and art-based nonprofits have felt the pinch.

How badly the pinch hurts varies widely from one individual or organization to another. Some are taking a hit, others are holding more or less steady, and at least a few are doing better than that.

Gress' gallery, like most arts retailers, depends on good holiday sales in December to bolster the till. The holiday season just past, she said, was ... OK, all things considered.

"December is by far our biggest month," she said. "This past December, it still was. It just wasn't nearly what it has been in the past. We saw about the same number of people in the shop, but they were being very careful about how much they spent. Instead of buying a painting, they might buy an ornament.

"I'm watching my spending, too, and I actually feel pretty optimistic. We're doing good business in January so far. Whether it's the new year, or the new administration coming in, I don't know, but people seem happy."

'Pretty desperate' in N.C.

Individual experiences vary, but by and large the arts community seems to be weathering the rough climate better here than it is in many other places. Whether that's due to the affluent demographic, to the presence of the university -- and not, say, automobile manufacturing -- as the biggest employer, to an unusually fierce dedication to art, or perhaps to some persistently Pollyannaish outlook here, no one can really say.

"Talking to people across the state, it's pretty desperate," said theater veteran Lynden Harris, director of Hidden Voices, a local performance organization. "At theaters in Charlotte, in Asheville and other places, I hear reports of attendance being down by half. The North Carolina Heritage Festival was cancelled. It's pretty bad out there.

"Nonprofits are being especially hard hit. It's terrible for organizations that depend on grants and on state or federal funds."

Still, Harris said, her own organization, Hidden Voices, is doing fine -- partly because it's such a low-budget operation that it doesn't have far to fall.

"We're not a good indicator," she said. "We have no revenues, so we have no revenues to lose. We make do with very little anyway, and what we do is so focused and limited that it has sort of a built-in audience. We had enormous response at our show in October."

Likewise, the Orange County Open Studio Tour, held in early November, drew healthy crowds, said Linda Carmel, a Chapel Hill painter who is one of the participating artists.

"For me personally, the studio tour was great, and in the survey the artists guild did afterward most people said they didn't see a big dropoff," Carmel said. "People came out, and they bought.

"I think in this economy, people are more thoughtful about what they spend their money on. If they're going to spend, they want to spend on quality. In a way, that might actually benefit artists. Instead of buying 50 gizmos, people might decide to buy one high-quality, locally produced original piece.

"At least, I hope that's true. I do think there's an element of that at work."

Stimulus not for us

The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, the county's biggest single arts enterprise, is a nonprofit organization that offers concerts, classes, gallery shows and all manner of special events. Executive Director Jon Wilner said nonprofits across the board need more support from the state and federal governments.

"All the bailout and stimulus plans are tax breaks and tax incentives, which help nonprofits not at all," he said. "And [President-elect Barack] Obama said yesterday that the stimulus package would be applied only to 'essential' businesses. I would argue that the arts are essential, but when schools have to make cuts, they always cut art programs first.

"So if not much is being done to save nonprofits, and if the arts are not considered 'essential,' that puts a tremendous strain on organizations like The ArtsCenter."

Individual and corporate donations have been down, Wilner said, and he expects that when the figures are tallied for the October-to-December quarter they may show slight declines in ticket sales and class fees.

Tess Mangum Ocana, The ArtsCenter's concerts and facility director, said attendance was good at last year's concerts. It's too soon to tell how this year will be, she said.

"I noticed a slight downturn last year, but not much," she said. "People have less disposable income, so you would expect some decline. But they still need to get out and have fun once in a while. They still want to see a great show. Our season is just getting under way, so we'll see how things go. But some of our shows have already sold well in advance tickets."

Wilner said The ArtsCenter will respond to the difficult economy not by hunkering down but by expanding its offerings. With individual and corporate donations down, the organization has to increase what it makes on concerts, classes and so on. So it will expand its offerings in those areas where demand is highest -- for adult dance classes, for example, and the Youth Performing Arts Conservatory.

"For an organization like The ArtsCenter to make it through this, we have to earn our way through it, because we're not going to be able to fundraise our way through it," he said. "So we have to target our offerings where we know there's the highest demand. If we sit back and fail to be proactive, it can't possibly work."

All is OK ... for now

At University Mall, Jane Tyndall of Tyndall Galleries said her business started to feel the recession last May -- but as the holidays approached people started to fill the gallery.

"We had a fabulous holiday season," she said. "We had a better Christmas this year than last. People continued to come in, and they continued to buy."

She attributed much of that success to the new management of University Mall, which last year launched an active marketing and events campaign. That effort, Tyndall said, "made all the difference in the world."

Fine art, she said, is an investment; and for those who can afford it a good investment is always attractive -- maybe even more so in a weak economy.

"Art is an incredible investment; it always goes up, and it never goes down," she said. "It's also a huge investment in this community. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful artists in this area. I hope people will continue to be aware of the art we have here -- in restaurants, in galleries, on the studio tour and the ArtsWalk -- and will understand the importance of continuing to support that.

It's so important to continue to support that."

Jane Filer, one of this area's best known and most successful artists, was among the artists who sold well during Tyndall's holiday exhibition. Unlike most artists here, her art is her sole livelihood -- most working artists have day jobs or spouses who help pay the bills.

"I've heard it said that in a recession art businesses are the last to know and the first to recover," she said. "For me the last six months have been great. It's a blessing, and I'm shocked, frankly. My work is bright and colorful, and maybe people want that, especially now.

"But I am concerned about the future. It's scary. My art is my living and my retirement. Even though I'm OK right now, if it goes on very much longer, well, we'll all be in trouble."