The economic impact of COVID-19 on local arts totals in the millions of dollars. Megan Mabry, the Chamber's director of marketing and communications, sits down with Laura Way, president and CEO of ArtsGreensboro, and Ryan Deal, Greensboro's chief creative economy officer, to discuss the Greensboro Artist Emergency Relief Fund.
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00:58 - Megan starts the episode off with an introduction of her guests, Laura Way, President and CEO of Arts Greensboro and Ryan Deal, Chief Creative Economy Officer with the City of Greensboro, who are here to discuss the state of the arts in Greensboro
3:30 - Megan asks Ryan what his overall opinion is on the arts in Greensboro, especially considering the impact that COVID-19 has had on the community. As the “new guy” in town, Ryan has mostly experienced the arts and culture community virtually, which has actually allowed him to engage with a wider variety of artists, expressions, and projects.
5:17 - Ryan details the twice-per-week digest that the City partners with Arts Greensboro on to share virtual programs that are being produced by local creative entities. There are a large number of interactive and often free creative forums for people to engage with!
6:36 - Megan asks Laura about some of the challenges that arts organizations are facing during the pandemic. Laura describes how social distancing and lockdown have really damaged the arts infrastructure, and financially, it’s not looking good. Results from a survey Larua put out to local arts institutions detail that lost income totals about $7 million, and the impact on audience interaction is about 700,000 lost engagement opportunities.
11:41 - Megan asks Laura to elaborate on why direct payments to artists are so critically important. Laura explains that many artists work as independent contractors and are self-employed, which made them ineligible for unemployment benefits at the start of shelter-in-place, so they were in a long period of time of having no income at all. Between a generous anonymous donor and a partnership of other local organizations, Arts Greensboro and the City were able to directly support local artists survive the crisis.
15:01 - Ryan shares a fantastic story that shows how individual people can engage with artists in their own lives and get creative while in lockdown.
18:40 - Megan brings up that we’re moving into the Fall season, which is usually a big time for the arts. She asks Laura and Ryan what we might be able to expect and what else is needed. Ryan speaks to how future planning changes every week in response to Phase 2 extensions and adhering to safety measures. He’s hearing more planning around virtual events and recommends that people add the MUSEP concerts to their calendars.
20:52 - Laura talks about reentry and reinvent, meaning that the model that non-profits have functioned under needs to be revamped in order to be more adaptive to large change. Arts Greensboro plans on being the resource to help other arts organizations navigate this new world, figure out new and sustainable funding sources, and will continue to be the advocate for local arts.
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Website: Arts Greensboro
https://www.artsgreensboro.org/
Facebook: Arts Greensboro
https://www.facebook.com/ArtsGreensboro
Facebook: Creative Greensboro (hosts the MUSEP concerts)
https://www.facebook.com/CreativeGreensboro/
Donate to the Artist Emergency Relief Fund:
https://www.artsgreensboro.org/artist-emergency-relief-fund/
Donate to the fund at artsgreensboro.org.
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Make sure to follow impact. The Boro on social media!
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @gsochamber
Visit the Chamber website at greensboro.org.
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