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.  

§ We urge all arts and cultural organizations to complete the new COVID-19 Impact Survey for Organizations. This revised survey enables Americans for the Arts to continue tracking the human and financial impacts of COVID-19 on arts organizations as well as understand the challenges with recovery and re-opening. All types of arts and cultural organizations should participate. Please share the link with other organizations and businesses in your community.

§ Americans for the Arts and Artist Relief, with support from the Ford Foundation, have launched a new COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists. This revised survey enables the partners to gauge what is happening to our creative economy and address what is needed to provide relief and spur recovery. All types of creative workers should participate: practicing artists, culture bearers, educators and teaching artists, creative entrepreneurs, and hobby artists). Please share this link with your artist networks.

• Current Research Findings (February 8, 2021): COVID-19’s Impact on The Arts—As the virus continues to rage in our communities, so does its devastation of the nation’s arts sector. Cancellations have taken place at virtually every arts organization across the country, 1 in 10 arts businesses doubt their ability to survive, 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 Cohen, VP of Research to speak to your community’s arts leaders and decision makers about the pandemic’s impact and the vital role the arts can play in rebuilding your community. 

• 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.  
• 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.   
• 2021 COVID-19 Arts Resources Table – The table provides information on all of the new and expanded federal resources for artists and arts organizations as a result of the economic aid package enacted on December 27, 2020.

• Book Nina for your next local, state, or national webinar related to CARES Act funding for the arts and political activities. Free for members.  

• 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)  

FIELD NEWS

• The Architect’s Newspaper: J. Paul Getty Trust launches $40 million support fund for beleaguered arts institutions
• ARTnews: As Indoor Spaces Face Restrictions, Public Art Plays a Vital Role in Pandemic-Era New York
• VT Digger: Vermont Arts Council is helping artists and arts organizations survive COVID
• Hartford Courant: West Hartford Commission of Arts creates job bank to match artists with work
• HF Chronicle: Pandemic safe and a bit silly: Arts Council challenge seeks to fill social void

MUSEUMS/GALLERIES

• New York Times: Closed Nearly a Year, Empty Museums in Los Angeles Struggle
• American Alliance of Museums: Running with Scissors (and a Mask!): COVID-19 Responses at Old Salem Museums & Gardens

THEATRE & DANCE

• Baltimore Sun: ‘Uncharted Territory’: Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts adapts to virtual stage amid coronavirus pandemic
• Carson Now: Carson City area theatre companies pivot amidst COVID restrictions, hope to go live by spring

GENERAL NEWS

• CNN Health: COVID-19 vaccines could be available to the general public in April in the United States, Fauci Says

EQUITY/MENTAL HEALTH

• AMNY: New York’s mental health crisis during COVID-19 pandemic impacting people of color at higher rates: report
• USA Today: ‘I’m literally breaking inside’: As COVID-19 leaves millions jobless and struggling, the mental health toll rises

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

• The Conversation: Try a little playfulness if your family’s pandemic routine needs a reset

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. 2 – June 29, various: Mass Cultural Council - Recover, Rebuild, Renew Series

The Recover, Rebuild, Renew Series will include some 42 webinars and countless hours of one-on-one consulting. This series will be delivered in wide ranging formats, including multi-session webinars, single-topic webinars and meetings, small group and panel conversations, and on-on-one coaching. These offerings are open to all cultural organizations across the Commonwealth, regardless of their funding relationship with Mass Cultural Council. This series is provided at no cost to participants. The series will include opportunities to connect with other cultural organizations who have addressed similar challenges and can speak to their own experiences in a non-evaluative, judgment-free zone. We’ve organized the series into several tracks. Cultural organizations can register for all tracks, all sessions in an individual track, or mix-and-match any individual session. All sessions will be recorded and will be made available for viewing afterwards.