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Friday, September 10, 2021
King County to distribute $20 million of COVID aid to theaters, arts organizations
The Seattle Times: King County will distribute $20 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds to theaters, music venues, clubs and other artistic spaces, as cultural institutions work to rebound from pandemic-induced closures, the county announced Thursday.
7 comments:
Sophie Howard
said...
King County distributing COVID aid to arts centers in and around Seattle is really promising to me for the reopening of the live entertainment industry. Closed show venues having trouble opening is so disconcerting, especially as someone who wants to join the industry in the next couple of years. Arts grants help ensure that arts venues survive economic crises, as entertainment is the first thing consumers cut from their budget. Even without an economic crisis, many non-profit theaters depend on government grants for their shows and educational programs, even if they charge admission fees. The non-profit Shakespeare company I work for has been desperately searching for grant money to weather the loss of their show last march and regroup after a difficult year of raising money with a very low budget production (no lights, minimal staff, no ensemble and double casting). Grants like this make me really hopeful for the continued success of live entertainment, even smaller venues and companies.
This is huge. Throughout the pandemic, there have been movements within the live entertainment industry worldwide. Actors, stage managers, and even crew with the We Need Crew movement have spoken up about their struggles amidst the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, this industry got hit the hardest with the exception of health care workers. I remember sitting in my high school theatre with my friends and we had gotten the news that broadway had a confirmed case of COVID. Seemingly moments later it was announced that broadway would be shutting down and shockingly, the rest of the United States would follow suit. Even people who had no connection to theatre felt the real repercussions of the pandemic at that moment. The world had turned upside down. And the one thing that humans have made for themselves to cope with things like this-- art, had come to a screeching halt. Broadway announced it would be shutting down on March 12th, 2020. A day later, on March 13th I had my last day of “normal” high school. Now, a year and a half later I sit here at CMU and think about how grateful I am that the arts were not forgotten in our darkest moments. And that people are seeing the value in theatre and helping so that we can get back to doing what we love. Grants like these are necessary in times like these to keep theatre going and it is places like King County that are bringing the world back to life.
This is really great news for King County arts organizations. We all have been sitting here for over a year and a half hoping the arts are not forgotten during the pandemic and as we recover, and this step from the local government is a great step for arts organizations not just in Seattle, but around the country. Hopefully we will start to see more and more cities and counties around the country take these steps and provide funding for this industry that has lost so much during the pandemic. One of my biggest fears for over a year now was that theatre wouldn’t come back and we would start to see more digital and filmed art, so I am so glad that life event organizations and in person experiences such as museums are getting some of this funding. This means that there is a still a need and a desire for these organizations in that community, and hopefully around the rest of the country as well.
Like others have said above me, even this 'small' slice of the relief money being distributed could have an absolutely tremendous positive effect on the arts in King County (and similar efforts elsewhere could provide much needed lifelines to struggling arts organizations). Most arts organizations, especially performing arts organizations, operate on very thin margins, and support in times of crisis is invaluable to maintaining these cultural organizations. Just as important, large pools of public money produce a better art world than inconsistent and often contingent streams of money from private donors. Public money increases the independence of the arts from corporate and private interests, and when implemented properly, will generate much more value for a community than it costs. It's a win win. I don't remember the exact numbers, but for every dollar a community invests in arts, they generally receive something like a dollar and fifteen cents in economic growth due to the peripheral activities that come with people being involved in the arts in their community.
I have recently found an obsession with the ways in which projection mappings are being used throughout the theatrical landscape for new innovative ways. I’m won’t lie and pretend like I have always been a fan of the idea, in fact, just a few days ago I was complaining about projections being a “cheap way out”– an easy alternative to constructing a set. Now, after reading about the work that covering operatic scenery pieces with projection entails, I must admit my perception has changed. Not only is it (surprisingly) highly mathematical, but the maintenance of high caliber projectors, especially in an outdoor venue (and as was the case with this production of Nessun Dorma”) is heavy work. Nevertheless, I still believe poorly executed projections to be “a poor man's scenery”. Once again, an easy alternative to the more complicated process of designing, building, painting, assembling, and transporting larger scenery pieces.
It’s so exciting to hear that King County arts organizations will be getting some help. With the theater industry shutting down during the pandemic, there are so many theaters that are struggling to keep their doors open at all. In the midst of the pandemic, theater and other forms of art were often not a priority. And while I completely agree that staying home to keep from spreading the virus is much better than going to the theater and possibly getting fatally sick, it’s still important to realize how important the arts really are. Theater becomes an escape to a different reality for so many people: artists and audience. Without it, we’re stuck facing the fear and sadness that comes with living through a pandemic. On top of this, unfortunately, like so many others, artists who work in live performance have been completely out of work for so long. Repeating Margaret, like everyone else said, this COVID relief money is going to do so much to help this community. And I’m so happy that we are slowly starting to bring the arts back to life.
I'm glad that some level of support is being considered for performing arts organizations. Obviously over the course of the pandemic going out to see shows in person hasn't been the responsible thing to do. But people are (literally) dying to see shows in person again and without this type of aid, a large vacuum will exist and there either won't be venues open and ready to host these events when the times comes, or no personnel willing to work in the performing arts because they will have moved on. This will allow venues to at least operate a skeleton crew and keep the wheels oiled, so to speak. And even allow smaller venues to still go about producing by augmenting their facilities to operate remotely as we navigate the rest of the pandemic.
7 comments:
King County distributing COVID aid to arts centers in and around Seattle is really promising to me for the reopening of the live entertainment industry. Closed show venues having trouble opening is so disconcerting, especially as someone who wants to join the industry in the next couple of years. Arts grants help ensure that arts venues survive economic crises, as entertainment is the first thing consumers cut from their budget. Even without an economic crisis, many non-profit theaters depend on government grants for their shows and educational programs, even if they charge admission fees. The non-profit Shakespeare company I work for has been desperately searching for grant money to weather the loss of their show last march and regroup after a difficult year of raising money with a very low budget production (no lights, minimal staff, no ensemble and double casting). Grants like this make me really hopeful for the continued success of live entertainment, even smaller venues and companies.
This is huge. Throughout the pandemic, there have been movements within the live entertainment industry worldwide. Actors, stage managers, and even crew with the We Need Crew movement have spoken up about their struggles amidst the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, this industry got hit the hardest with the exception of health care workers. I remember sitting in my high school theatre with my friends and we had gotten the news that broadway had a confirmed case of COVID. Seemingly moments later it was announced that broadway would be shutting down and shockingly, the rest of the United States would follow suit. Even people who had no connection to theatre felt the real repercussions of the pandemic at that moment. The world had turned upside down. And the one thing that humans have made for themselves to cope with things like this-- art, had come to a screeching halt. Broadway announced it would be shutting down on March 12th, 2020. A day later, on March 13th I had my last day of “normal” high school. Now, a year and a half later I sit here at CMU and think about how grateful I am that the arts were not forgotten in our darkest moments. And that people are seeing the value in theatre and helping so that we can get back to doing what we love. Grants like these are necessary in times like these to keep theatre going and it is places like King County that are bringing the world back to life.
This is really great news for King County arts organizations. We all have been sitting here for over a year and a half hoping the arts are not forgotten during the pandemic and as we recover, and this step from the local government is a great step for arts organizations not just in Seattle, but around the country. Hopefully we will start to see more and more cities and counties around the country take these steps and provide funding for this industry that has lost so much during the pandemic. One of my biggest fears for over a year now was that theatre wouldn’t come back and we would start to see more digital and filmed art, so I am so glad that life event organizations and in person experiences such as museums are getting some of this funding. This means that there is a still a need and a desire for these organizations in that community, and hopefully around the rest of the country as well.
Like others have said above me, even this 'small' slice of the relief money being distributed could have an absolutely tremendous positive effect on the arts in King County (and similar efforts elsewhere could provide much needed lifelines to struggling arts organizations). Most arts organizations, especially performing arts organizations, operate on very thin margins, and support in times of crisis is invaluable to maintaining these cultural organizations. Just as important, large pools of public money produce a better art world than inconsistent and often contingent streams of money from private donors. Public money increases the independence of the arts from corporate and private interests, and when implemented properly, will generate much more value for a community than it costs. It's a win win. I don't remember the exact numbers, but for every dollar a community invests in arts, they generally receive something like a dollar and fifteen cents in economic growth due to the peripheral activities that come with people being involved in the arts in their community.
I have recently found an obsession with the ways in which projection mappings are being used throughout the theatrical landscape for new innovative ways. I’m won’t lie and pretend like I have always been a fan of the idea, in fact, just a few days ago I was complaining about projections being a “cheap way out”– an easy alternative to constructing a set. Now, after reading about the work that covering operatic scenery pieces with projection entails, I must admit my perception has changed. Not only is it (surprisingly) highly mathematical, but the maintenance of high caliber projectors, especially in an outdoor venue (and as was the case with this production of Nessun Dorma”) is heavy work. Nevertheless, I still believe poorly executed projections to be “a poor man's scenery”. Once again, an easy alternative to the more complicated process of designing, building, painting, assembling, and transporting larger scenery pieces.
It’s so exciting to hear that King County arts organizations will be getting some help. With the theater industry shutting down during the pandemic, there are so many theaters that are struggling to keep their doors open at all. In the midst of the pandemic, theater and other forms of art were often not a priority. And while I completely agree that staying home to keep from spreading the virus is much better than going to the theater and possibly getting fatally sick, it’s still important to realize how important the arts really are. Theater becomes an escape to a different reality for so many people: artists and audience. Without it, we’re stuck facing the fear and sadness that comes with living through a pandemic. On top of this, unfortunately, like so many others, artists who work in live performance have been completely out of work for so long. Repeating Margaret, like everyone else said, this COVID relief money is going to do so much to help this community. And I’m so happy that we are slowly starting to bring the arts back to life.
I'm glad that some level of support is being considered for performing arts organizations.
Obviously over the course of the pandemic going out to see shows in person hasn't been the responsible thing to do. But people are (literally) dying to see shows in person again and without this type of aid, a large vacuum will exist and there either won't be venues open and ready to host these events when the times comes, or no personnel willing to work in the performing arts because they will have moved on. This will allow venues to at least operate a skeleton crew and keep the wheels oiled, so to speak. And even allow smaller venues to still go about producing by augmenting their facilities to operate remotely as we navigate the rest of the pandemic.
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