Kit Ingui, managing director of Long Wharf Theatre, had a question for state legislators on Wednesday afternoon about the strategy to reopen the state, whenever that should happen.
“How can we be considered as a reopening plan is crafted?” she asked. “How can we receive some guidance and support that helps us ensure the health of our artists and patrons so we can invite them back into our space?”
The answer, from State Rep. Dorinda Borer: “Any suggestions from you would be more than welcome.”
That statement was part of the general message at a 75-person meeting between state legislators and arts community leaders facilitated by the Arts Council for Greater New Haven.
Legislators explained that they were not yet sure what the plan to reopen the state would entail — and that arts organizations and individual artists alike should speak up and work with their representatives to make sure their needs were considered as that plan developed.
The legislators present included St. Reps. Toni Walker (New Haven), Robin Comey (Branford), Josh Elliott (Hamden), Borer (West Haven; also co-chair of the New Arts, Culture and Tourism Caucus), and Pat Dillon (New Haven; also deputy majority leader).
The Covid-19 outbreak, Fitmaurice said, had laid bare and amplified many of the problems of the system, from inequities in health care to inequities in funding.
General sentiment seemed to suggest that the arts were crucial to “Connecticut thriving through and after this pandemic,” but Afts Council Executive Director Daniel Fitzmaurice said that “even before this pandemic, arts funding was fragile,” having “declined precipitously” from funding levels a decade ago. The hotel closures across the state from the outbreak would likely “greatly reduce the size of the tourism budget” next year — and this in the context of the state facing as yet an unknown but surely very large loss of revenue across the board. “Our revenues are horrible,” Walker said. “We’re not collecting sales tax, tourism, or payroll tax.”
The New Normal
For many arts organizations, a main issue is that “there are going to be some restrictions on group sizes, at least in the initial rollout,” Comey said. Places looking to stage performances had to “put some thought into keeping your group size smaller.” This also meant considering “the financial impact of having your small group sizes and what that will mean for your program” in asking for state assistance.
“The arts are the most critical thing we have in our society because they teach us humanity and the beauty of the world that we sometimes ignore,” Walker said. But “we are in a state of emergency now, as declared by the governor.”
“In this pandemic — I’m going to be honest — a lot of this has been out of our hands,” Walker said. “It is all in the administration’s hands.” The state legislature is no longer in session. Lamont currently “has the ability to make the determination on a lot of things.” Dillon pointed out that it was unclear whether the plan will be staggered either by geography or by sector. The farming sector in the eastern part of the state, for example, has been hit hard.
“I don’t know that people have the arts on the radar, so you’ll have to make your case,” Walker said. She cited her own experience running an arts organization, particularly in looking for support from the state. She noted that larger arts organizations tended to see support while “small mom and pop organizations got pushed down…. That is probably what is going to happen now,” she said.
Babz Rawls Ivy, who serves on the boards of the Arts Council, Long Wharf Theatre, Common Ground High School, and Planned Parenthood, noted that the work of arts organizations was tied directly to larger social justice issues.
“This whole notion of inclusion and equity is something everyone has been talking about for the past several years,” she said. “This virus has disproportionately affected black and brown people.” For Rawls Ivy (who edits the Inner City News and hosts the daily “Love Babz Love Talk” program on WNHH FM), the arts remain an important avenue for facilitating those discussions, and for providing ways of addressing issues of equity and inclusion.
“I would invite you all legislators — and people who can press our legislators, respectfully and politely,” Rawls Ivy said, to “ensure that artists are not left out of the conversation…. We are a voting bloc and a voting power.”
The arts’ contribution to employment and economic development also should not be overlooked, Walker said. “You are an employer. You have to tell us how many people get employed by you, and where the jobs are.” In addressing the Lamont administration, she said, “it’s important that they know that you employ a large portion of the state of Connecticut.”
Fitzmaurice noted that arts nonprofits account for about 6,000 full-time jobs in the greater New Haven area alone. In New Haven, employment in the arts and culture sector is higher than it is in manufacturing. Noah Bloom, executive director of Neighborhood Music School, said that NMS employed about 200 people and accounted for close to $4 million in payroll to the local economy. “We are integral to the economy for what we contribute to the bottom line,” he said, but “every artist and organization struggles to survive,” even as artists “are playing a vital role in keeping people sane and connected.”
In family and social gatherings, joyous and mournful, “it is the song or the poem or the first dance that brings understanding,” he said. He understood the need to address basic services, but argued that there should still be room for more. “We need bread, but we got to have the roses too,” he said.
Luciana McClure, speaking as an organizer of Nasty Women CT, asked: “How will we include individual creatives in Connecticut’s recovery plans?” She noted that many working artists have no institutional affiliations, but contribute as a group to creating the state’s culture. Patrick Dunn, of the New Haven Pride Center, noted that many arts events don’t happen in well-established spaces and stages that receive state support. The Pride Center has drag events that draw thousands, and “we don’t utilize any of the magical spaces that are represented here” at the meeting, Dunn said.
Dillon added to that. “In addition to the performing arts … there are a lot of working artists who show or exhibit. If they stop paying for their studios, there’s going to be a ripple effect,” she said. “It can have an effect all over the city.” Borer noted that applications for unemployment benefits for the self-employed are open as of April 30.
Sending The Message
In having the concerns of artists and arts organizations be part of the plans for reopening the state, “the best way we can serve you is if you would reach out to your representative,” Comey said, and “talk to us about what your needs are.”
“It’s important for you to market yourself,” Walker said, “and it’s important to demonstrate the value” of the work being done. “Programs doing education programs may be a little safer than performance programs,” she added.
“We’re going to need you to share stories with us,” Comey said. “Why have arts helped a person who was down in despair? What did you did to lift that person up into community again? We need you as storytellers and we will put your stories forward … as much as we can.”
The group discussed the possibility of creating a centralized place for arts organizations to tell their stories and get the ear of officials. As schools restructured during the shutdown and prepared for the coming year under a new normal, it was deemed important that the arts in schools not be lost in the mix.
One argument might be to discuss what would be lost if the state’s funding for the arts were to collapse. “What would Connecticut look like if we don’t have you?” Walker said. That mirrored a comment McClure had made earlier: “Without arts there is no culture. Without culture there is no tourism. The arts are way more important than many people imagine.”
Fitzmaurice expressed the hope that the arts community and legislators could “lock arms.”
“I would love to help fight for what Connecticut needs in a new way,” he said.
