Hi PAN Listserv,

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: October 19, 2020 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.
• 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 the end of this year 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/or ArtsVote 2020 legislative 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)

• Oct. 21, 1:00p ET: Reimagining the Future of the Arts Webinar

What will the future be like for nonprofit arts organizations? Strengthening community engagement, inclusion, and organizational health have long been on the minds of nonprofit arts leaders around the country. The global COVID-19 pandemic and the national conversation about racial justice and equity make such questions even more urgent. To help explore these questions, The Wallace Foundation has created an arts webinar series, “Reimagining the Future of the Arts.” The series brings together a diverse set of leading experts in the field to facilitate conversations around some of the most pressing issues facing the arts sector today, grounded in research commissioned or supported by Wallace. We hope these discussions, which are free of charge, will inspire new ideas and innovative approaches for the months and years ahead.

• Oct. 21 – Oct. 22, 12:45p – 5:-00p ET: Knight Public Spaces Forum

Knight believes that public spaces play an essential role in fostering more informed and engaged communities. This year’s Knight Public Spaces Forum will focus on how leaders from across the country are pivoting their public spaces in response to the COVID-19 crisis, economic downturn, and the most recent wave of racial justice movements.

FIELD NEWS

• Event Safety Alliance: The Reopening Guide addresses health and sanitary issues that event and venue professionals need to consider in order to protect both patrons and workers
• The Daily Yonder: Despite Less Funding Rural Arts Groups Push On. These 4 Groups Show How It Can Be Done.
• The Atlantic: Paging Dr. Hamblin: How Dangerous Are Woodwinds?
• Hyperallergic: An Artist-led Vigil for Coronavirus Victims Mourned the 212,000 Dead
• AZ Big Media: Downtown Phoenix arts community sees life after COVID-19 closures
• Nonprofit Quarterly: Nonprofit Movie Houses Keep Communities Engaged Through Pandemic

MUSEUMS/GALLERIES

• American Alliance of Museums: The Keys to Sustainable Online Programming? Partnerships and Professional Development
• Artnet News: ‘The Local Audience Is the Central Audience’: As Tourism Tanks Across the US, Museums Pivot to the Visitors in Their Own Backyards

THEATRE & DANCE

• American Theatre: Mosaic Theater Announces Adjustments to 2020 Offerings
• CBS19: Tyler Civic Theatre says show will go on after concerns of COVID-19 exposure
• CBS News: Actors perform in “drive-thru drama” as COVID-19 halts indoor shows

Relief Funds

• KHON2: Reimbursable grants available for Oahu businesses, nonprofits in culture and arts
• Connecticut COVID Relief Fund for the Arts: Qualifying organizations will receive a base grant amount of $5,000. Deadline: Nov. 3 by 11:59p

GENERAL NEWS

• New York Times: 5 Ways Families Can Prepare as Coronavirus Cases Surge
• CDC: COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Page
• CDC: Testing in K-12 Schools

EQUITY/MENTAL HEALTH

• Very Well Health: 4 ways to Cope With COVID-9 When Living with ADHD
• JGPR: Norfolk Public Schools Increases Focus on Social-Emotional Learning, Student Well-Being Amid COVID-19
• Press & Guide: How COVID-19 has changed the college mental health landscape
• Think Advisor: COVID-19 Forces Insurers to Rethink Approaches to Mental Health

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

• Artnet News: A New Google App Lets You (Hilariously) Put Yourself Inside the World’s Most Famous Artworks With Just One Tap
• The Optimist Daily: Starbucks offers employees free rides to polling places
• Good News Network: The Best Inspiration for Your Jack-O-Lanterns Might Come From this Man’s 8-Hour Masterpieces

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

• Oct. 22 – October 23, Various: Public Art and Communities Symposium: Creative Placemaking to Address Community Public Health

As a result of COVID-19, we have centered the role and opportunity for artists to engage communities in the public realm and develop creative responses and strategies to address community public health crises. Office of Public Art, in collaboration with Neighborhood Allies, is pleased to present this two-day Public Art and Communities Symposium. Offered online, the Public Art and Communities Symposium will feature national and local speakers who have been engaged in creative placemaking projects that support public health needs within communities across the country, and whose work demonstrates the value of cross-sector collaborations between arts and culture, public health, and community development. The symposium will provide artists, community members, organizations, and others the opportunity to see how their peers are working to develop such partnerships and to address serious issues that affect the public at large.

• Oct. 29, 2:00p ET: How to Revive Your Donor Relationships: 12 Tactics in 36 Minutes

In the harsh reality of disruption and uncertainty, this webinar shares practical ways to connect with, inspire confidence, and re-energize your organization’s donors and supporters. Your success depends on more than emotive emails and personal phone calls. This session delivers essential instruction for re-animating the core purposefulness essential to sustaining donor engagement. (Plenty of additional time for Q&A.)

• Nov. 10, 3:30p ET: Before You Close: Strategies for Alternative Pathways Forward

The estimated total impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts sector stands at $13.1 billion and growing, with layoffs, furloughs, and canceled performances setting the stage for long-term financial impacts. At the same time, the value of the arts has never been greater as we watch creative organizations respond to very real social challenges, raising community conversations and spirits. This webinar speaks to organizations who are facing financial and operational hardships right now and offers specific solutions to consider, instead of closing their doors completely.

• ON DEMAND: Navigating Uncertain Futures with Scenario Planning

Emerging technologies, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic are just a few of the uncertainties faced by cities and nonprofit organizations as they prepare for the future. Scenario planning is a proven methodology for analyzing and preparing for uncertain futures, that has been used by companies, cities, and organizations. Drawing on my recent book, Scenario Planning for Cities and Regions: Managing and Envisioning Uncertain Futures, this webinar will feature an overview of scenario planning concepts and tools, discuss a framework for implementing scenario planning for nonprofit organization strategic planning, and provide examples of how urban planners use scenarios.