The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges, especially now as we find ourselves under a stay-at-home order and dealing with tighter restrictions as the number of positive cases keep increasing. All of us have been impacted, but the cultural sector remains among the hardest hit and is anticipated to be among the slowest to recover.
The Canadian Association for the Performing Arts has been providing a snapshot of what has been happening and the data is staggering:
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36.0% businesses in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector reported that their revenues from 2020 were down 50% or more compared to 2019. This is a greater percentage than any other industries, including accommodation and food services (32.7%), and nearly three times more than the national average (12.9%).
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Employment in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector In Canada is now 37.8% lower than last year at the same period.
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Arts and culture workers anticipate an 18-month recovery period and as many as one in three (35%) are uncertain about their future in the arts.
In September 2020, the Ontario Museums Association published Exhibiting Resiliency that reported on the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector to date and that also provided a roadmap for the survival, recovery and long-term sustainability of museums in Ontario. That report cited 20% of museums, and 40% of seasonal museums, were unable to reopen in 2020 and lost an estimated $120 million in revenue. It also estimated that only 18% of museums were confident they would have the financial resources needed to operate in 2021.
The impact the pandemic has had on artists and arts and heritage organizations is significant and it is anticipated the uncertainty will continue for a long time yet. That is why all levels of government have made significant efforts to support the short-term viability of the cultural sector as well as its long-term recovery and sustainability.
The City’s Cultural Services Department functions as the municipal cultural development agency that supports cultural vitality in and across the community. Like others, our regular programs, services, and strategic initiatives have been impacted and have had to shift and adapt to support the sustainability and vibrancy of the sector.
Prior to the pandemic, 90% of Ontario residents agreed that an active local arts scene helps make a community a better place to live and 88% of Ontario residents believed that if their community lost its arts activities, people living there would lose something of value (https://www.arts.on.ca/research-impact/impact-of-the-arts-in-ontario). I am not sure any of us could have imagined a future in which the arts would be lost so its more important then ever we support local artists and arts activities while also making sure we adhere to all the necessary government and public health guidelines that exist.
In this moment, the City of Kingston continues to support the arts, heritage and culture locally through a combination of programs, projects, funding initiatives and strategies.
Programs
Kingston residents are still able to access cultural programming online through various websites and the Cultural Services Department also continues to support local artists through a combination of initiatives that support the visual and performing arts.
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Museums from Home: The PumpHouse and MacLachlan Woodworking Museum offer downloadable PDF Activity Pages to keep your family engaged with STEAM education.
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Virtual education programs for educators and classes: Downloadable PDF forms highlighting content from popular on-site programs are available for free.
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Virtual Grand OnStage: The popular Grand OnStage program relaunched in October 2020 as a virtual series featuring customized online experiences and opportunities for artist engagement with exceptional talent form across Canada.
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Public Art: Kingston artists are being commissioned as part of multiple temporary public art projects and the City continues to deliver its Public Art Program to enhance the public realm and add value to the community.
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Poet Laureate: Poet Laureate, Jason Heroux continues to mentor local writers and launched ‘Poetry in the Time of Pandemic’ that featured original poems created by Kingston poets to mark this moment in time and provide a message of endurance and hope.
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YGK Music: Local musicians are being promoted and paid through the creation of 2021 online playlists, aimed at profiling the talent of Kingston’s music scene.
Projects
The Love Kingston Marketplace is scheduled to return in 2021 and will provide opportunities to enjoy small-scale live performances by local musicians in Springer Market Square. This joint initiative between the City of Kingston, Tourism Kingston and the Downtown Kingston! BIA reimagines parts of downtown Kingston to help respond to the impacts of COVID-19 on residents, businesses, culture, tourism and the local economy and includes opportunities to support local artists with paid work.
Funding
Kingston City Council has continued to invest in the arts and heritage throughout the pandemic and has even invested an additional $200,000 in 2021 to support local artists and not-for-profit arts organizations.
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City of Kingston Heritage Fund: This program remains in place and provides annual Operating and Project grants. In 2021, the overall funding envelope has been reduced by 5% but an additional $64,181.40 is also available because of unallocated funds in 2020.
Artist entrepreneurs and creative businesses are also encouraged to check out other the other City-funded pandemic relief grants currently available as they may be eligible to receive funding through these other initiatives.
Strategies
On April 6, Kingston City Council approved the City’s first-ever creative industries strategy. This was identified as a strategic priority of Council and is linked to the recently approved Integrated Economic Development Strategy being led by the Kingston Economic Development Corporation. It has been identified that Kingston is well-positioned to pursue this work given its access to 14.4 million people in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor and the development of a Creative Industry Strategy is intended to support the long-term success of film, music and theatre initially, making Kingston a destination of choice for a wide range of creative industries, producers and consumers.
Partnerships
The City also continues to work with partner organizations to support the cultural and creative sectors and more information can be found by visiting their websites.
Other artists, organizations and groups are equally working hard to support the people, groups and organizations that make up the local cultural sector. We have a long way to go yet but Kingston has long been enriched by having one of the most active and vital cultural scenes for a community of its size and there is no reason to believe it will not continue to be vibrant through our shared support once we move past the worst of the pandemic.
