Greetings,

Here’s the latest Coronavirus (COVID-19) news…

A reminder that we are circulating this news digest weekly on Tuesday. We are continuing to update the Resource Center on a regular basis. If you see interesting or helpful items or have a resource to share, please email me at jejenkins@artsusa.org.

We invite you to share this news roundup with your networks and colleagues. 

AFTA NEWS/UPDATES

• #artcreateshope. Tell us how the arts create hope for you! Share your story on social media of the arts creating hope in your life. Don’t forget to tag @americans4arts and include #ArtsCreateHope in your posts. Need a little inspiration? Use our sample language and download images to get your social post started. 

• COVID-19’s Impact on The Arts Research Update: January 11, 2021: The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on America’s arts sector. Since the first U.S. case was reported on January 20, 2020 cancellations and closings are taking place at thousands of arts organizations across the country, and two-thirds of the nation’s artists are now unemployed. Americans for the Arts leads the three premier national studies tracking the human and financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the arts.
• Book Randy to speak on the pandemic’s impact and rebuilding your community through the arts.
• How the Work of Americans for the Arts Is Addressing the Urgent Challenges of 2020: In 2020, Americans for the Arts continued its commitment to our vision and planned work, while also pivoting and taking on new, urgent work like so many of our 5,000 member organizations. Here are highlights of some key areas of this new and urgent work. 
• Calling on Artists & Creative Workers to Share Their COVID-19 Experience.Americans for the Arts and Artist Relief, with support from the Ford Foundation, have launched a second-round survey to understand what is happening to creative workers as we approach the end of the year, and what is needed for recovery. This survey collects the data and stories we need to advocate for artists and creative workers, so we can all come out stronger on the other side. Please share this link with your artist networks: http://www.americansforthearts.org/CovidArtistSurvey
• To Rebuild and Reimagine the United States Post-Pandemic, We Must Put Creative Workers to Work,” a policy proposal developed with over 100 partners throughout the creative community to Put Creative Workers to Work in the national recovery—activating the creative economy and drawing upon the creative energies of the country’s 5.1 million creative workers to energize Americans, reimagine how communities can thrive, and improve the lives of all. Click here to view the full proposal, and follow the endorsement link at the top to submit your endorsement. You can sign on as either an individual or as an authorized representative for an organization. 
• OFFICE HOURS! Extended through 2021 on Fridays (excluding holidays) from 11:00a to 12:00p EDT. Join Nina Ozlu Tunceli with the Americans for the Arts Action Fund to get answers to your most pressing questions about navigating the CARES Act relief programs. Check the link for any additional dates or occasional blackout dates.  

• CARES Act Table of Federal Arts Funding Opportunities – This helpful table breaks down the CARES Act so you can determine which funding opportunities apply to you, whether you represent a nonprofit organization, a governmental agency, a commercial arts company, a self-employed gig worker, or just a taxpayer. The table is regularly updated and links to helpful FAQs are listed on the last page. 
• Book Nina for your next local, state, or national webinar related to CARES Act funding for the arts and political activities. Free for members. 

• Please complete our revised COVID-19 survey for organizations. It still collects the critical up-to-date estimates that we need for our collective advocacy efforts. However, we’ve removed less relevant questions and added short sections on re-opening plans and the impact of the racial equity movement. You can keep up with the survey results by visiting the project dashboard as well as by downloading a handy 1-page summary of all our COVID-19 impact research. Link to Revised Survey: https://surveys.americansforthearts.org/s3/CoronavirusImpactSurvey
• Sample plans for reopening: AFTA is collecting and sharing reopening plans. Some communities are closer than others to restarting businesses and allowing the public back into museums and cultural sites. As we receive examples of plans to reopen (please send them to services@artsusa.org), we will be sharing them on the resource center. 

FIELD PROGRAMMING

(We will feature new offerings here – free to low-cost opportunities. Previous listings have been moved down to below the signature) 

• Jan. 14 at 7:30p ET: Art Restart: Hindsight 2020

To celebrate the launch of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts’ new podcast, “Art Restart,” and look forward to how artists are reinventing their fields and building a new landscape for the arts, five remarkable artist leaders from around the country will come together for a virtual salon, where they will discuss what needs to be reinvented in their artistic fields and how they would go about reinventing it.

• Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 at 2:00p ET: Learn How to Tap the New COVID-19 Economic Relief Funds for the Arts (Two-Part Webinar Series)

On December 27, 2020, the $900 billion “Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act” (Economic Aid Act) was signed into law along with a $1.4 trillion federal omnibus FY 21 appropriations bill. Additionally, Congress passed a veto-override to enact the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act on December 23, 2020, which includes support for creative arts therapies. Join Nina Ozlu Tunceli, the Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs at Americans for the Arts and the Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, and other expert presenters for a two-part webinar series to cover this vast array of arts funding opportunities on Friday at 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET on both January 15, 2021 and January 22, 2021.

FIELD NEWS

• National Endowment for the Arts: The Art of Reopening: A Guide to Current Practices Among Arts Organizations During COVID-19
• Chicago Sun Times: City announces $2.5 million in arts funding
• The News Star: mARTi Gras: Virtual art show ‘un-canceling’ Mardi Gras 2021
• NASAA: The Arts and Culture Sector’s Contributions to Economic Recovery and Resiliency – Key Findings
• FEMA: COVID-19’s Impacts on Arts and Culture

MUSEUMS/GALLERIES

• The Daily Item: Children’s Museum reopens after COVID restrictions lifted
• Cincinnati.com: Taft Museum and Contemporary Arts Center to reopen this month
• The New York Times: Got a Box? Make a Museum

THEATRE & DANCE

• The Sign Post: Performing during a pandemic
• KSDK: Historical tours at Fabulous Fox Theatre suspended amid COVID-19

RELIEF FUNDS & GRANTS

• New Jersey State Council on the Arts FY21 COVID Critical Needs Grant Program: Grant requests cannot exceed 7% of total organizational budget from FY19 or $20,000, whichever is smaller. The COVID Critical Needs Program (CCN) is a single year grant program that provides support for COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) and safeguarding needs that meets the Council’s eligibility requirements. Deadline: January 28 at 4pm.

GENERAL NEWS

• Fast Company: Now Yelp’s users get to report on COVID-19 safety measures
• TIME: mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry
• Fast Company: How many COVID-19 vaccines it will take to stop the pandemic, explained by a scientist

EQUITY/MENTAL HEALTH

• Borgen Magazine: Prioritizing Women’s Mental Health During COVID-19
• Loma Linda University Health: Why can COVID-19 cause brain fog?

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

• Good News Network: ‘Ratatouille: The TikTok Musial’ has Raised Over $1 Million for Struggling Actors
• Fast Company: This nonprofit is turning empty schoolyards into vibrant public parks

Thanks for reading. We hope you find this news digest to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at services@artsusa.org. If you were forwarded this and want to sign up for the Local Arts Network listserv to receive it directly, click here.

____________________

Jerelle Jenkins

Local Arts Services Coordinator 

Americans for the Arts 

FIELD PROGRAMMING

• Feb. 9 at 2:00p ET: Health and Safety in the Performing Arts

Safety in the theatre extends to crews, casts, and audience members as well as the venue. This includes performance and rehearsal spaces, shops, and other workspaces. It requires awareness, common sense, and perseverance to eliminate hazards and guard against carelessness. The goal of this free webinar is to ensure that a safe, healthy environment is maintained at all times. This includes the control and minimization of all known and potential hazards associated within creative, artistic, and performance development. These risks can be minimized and controlled through proper training, equipment, and use of appropriate precautions, restrictions, and established safe-work practices.