Americans for the Arts

Amid this COVID-19 pandemic, many arts organizations—as well as those outside the sector—have been working to determine how to offset financial impacts on their organizations. One type of program that finds its head on the chopping block is the internship program. For organizations that provide arts internships for an hourly wage or a seasonal stipend, the expenditure for an intern or an internship program may appear to be an added burden at a time when we must all make difficult choices. At Americans for the Arts, we too have unfortunately had to cut our own Summer and Fall internship program to save on expenditures.While that decision had to be made for the organization, the Equity in Arts Leadership team has been able to reimagine the organization’s 28-year-old Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) internship. We recognized the stress and collective trauma our country—and our world—is experiencing during this time, and determined it was important for our team to focus our internship restructure on a deliberate, community-centered approach. In deciding to move forward with our internship program, we had to ask ourselves many questions regarding the feasibility of continuing this program this year. 

This is an unprecedented time in our history—one I’m still processing and reacting to as things change every day. I’m reminded how grateful I am to still have a job I love and basic necessities such as food, electricity, and technology (especially to connect with loved ones). This experience also has taught me several important lessons and reminded me why I chose a career in the arts to begin with: creating is essential to mental health and provides an opportunity for human connection. People are rallying around the arts, donating money, collecting data, creating artwork, hosting live performances, and even collecting shared stories and histories around this experience to add to museum collections. It’s no coincidence that people are using the arts to stay connected to each other. The arts have always had a way of bringing people together, and this has been true even before we hit a global pandemic.

Whether or not we can name them, we all function from a set of values. From when we’re young they get passed down from our caretakers and life experiences. However, as adults we can be more intentional. We are empowered to think about the person we aspire to be and align our values accordingly. Our core values should not be relegated to a page in a shelved binder or a forgotten annual report. Use them as a tool to navigate your leadership as an arts administrator during this pivotal moment in history. While we create new avenues for arts and culture engagement in this changing landscape, our individual and institutional core values will light our paths towards new solutions and new ways of being as arts practitioners, participants, and leaders.

COVID-19 has heightened the stress levels in lower-income families and put people in extreme survival mode. If you’re not on the top of the socioeconomic ladder, this is a very scary time with lots of uncertainties. Removing vital systems of support like school and community programs throws people into a fear-filled tailspin. We started doing a lot of arts integration work back in 2007 with a couple of different school districts, and we found that because of the shift in budgets teachers began teaching P.E. To support them, we build a hip-hop dance-inspired, web-based learning platform called PassToClass.com. Because of COVID-19, we offered free access to PassToClass.com to all our school partners as a fitness and creative expression resource for distance learning. We need to expand access as much as possible right now. Partnering with creative nonprofits that have tight community ties and boots on the ground means our under-resourced communities get the information and resources they need to stay safe.

The effective arts advocate needs to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—deploying the right case-making tool in the right situation. Consider these “10 Reasons to Support the Arts” as your Swiss army knife for arts advocacy. Like so many sequestered at home during COVID-19, I write this while mindful of our challenging times, and yet inspired by how the arts still have found a way to permeate our lives. I have watched Yo-Yo Ma concerts online, visited the Smithsonian Museum with a click, and joined my neighbors for daily 6 p.m. outdoor singalongs. Even in this difficult environment, the arts are providing personal experiences and promote social cohesion (see tools #2 and #8 on your army knife!). While I am uncertain what we will look like on the other side of this crisis, tool #1 makes me optimistic that when it is time to stop practicing social distancing, it is the arts that will unify us. 

Studies show the healing potential of the arts is powerful. It can change a person’s focus and alter a body’s physiology. Research suggests that it can lower blood pressure, improve stress management, curb anxiety and depression, alleviate pain, enhance memory, improve communication, promote wellness and relaxation, and enhance the production of proteins that accelerates healing and minimizes the danger of infection. Recognizing that a patient’s physical health is fundamentally linked to his or her emotional and spiritual well-being, in 2016 Summa Health committed to integrating the healing arts into its renowned patient care by creating a Healing Arts Leadership Council made up of senior hospital staff, benefactors, and community leaders. This Council is dedicated to bringing the healing powers of art and music into the hospital. As Summa is a community hospital, the Healing Arts Council decided early on that all artwork displayed would feature artists with a connection to Ohio, and predominantly Northeast Ohio. In addition, all art would be original, with the goal of engaging viewers with the pieces, and focusing their attention on the artworks’ unique qualities.