Hello all,

Strange times we find ourselves in. I hope each of you are safe and healthy, even as the arts are suffering tremendously.

I’d like to open a discussion here about how each of your organizations are addressing the pandemic.

• Our annual Fund for the Arts campaign began with high hopes and tremendous excitement on Tuesday, March 10 and by Monday, March 16 we were all working remotely, and the campaign was at a stand-still.
• We were planning a joint press conference with our Mayor, VisitLEX (our CVB), Breeders’ Cup and Equitana USA about 2020 being ‘the year of the horse’ in Lexington and rolling out a major public art project for the fall, Horse Mania.
• We are now considering if and how we might engage an Emergency Relief Fund for the arts in Central Kentucky. (We’ll be on the AFTA webinar tomorrow at 3pm.)

I’m curious to know how your organization is faring and the steps you’re taking to address this very unstable time for the arts.

• If you are currently in the midst of an annual campaign, are you considering postponing or extending?
• Are you considering an Emergency Relief Fund?
• Have you made adjustments to your grants deadlines, eligibility, etc?
• Do you, or did you, have major fundraisers that have been canceled or postponed?

We’ll get through this stronger together; it’s only intermission. If anyone is interested in a virtual meeting, I’d be interested, too. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Maury

Maury Sparrow

Communications Director

Helping art come to life • msparrow@lexarts.org • OFFICE  859.255.2951 • CELL  859.351.3502