COVID-19 Its impact on the performing arts and its audiences
Date
9/25/2020Author
Miller, Rodney
Baker, Danette
MacDonald, David
Miller, Matt
Santiago, Marisa
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Miller, Rodney (Moderator). COVID-19 Its impact on the performing arts and its audiences [Video]. In Perspectives on the Pandemic, Part II. https://youtu.be/OlFx5ot_WkM?list=PL2X8Er7MV7iMF2gPJtyzvyOpkMa8LQfyl
Abstract
The disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on the events industry, of which the performing arts is a significant portion, is devastating. It was the first industry to close down and will be the last to fully open back up. This industry supports 11 million jobs and generates over $1.75 trillion a year in direct, indirect and induced spending—greater than agriculture, broadcasting and telecommunications, auto manufacturing, truck and rail transportation, and computer systems design and related services.
Description
The arts, particularly the performing arts, constitute a majority of this gross domestic product–over 4.2 percent of the national GDP. In Kansas alone, the arts constitute around 3 percent of the state’s GDP (4.2 billion dollars), employing approximately 50,000 Kansans and representing 2.5 billion dollars in salaries alone. When shutdowns occurred in March, this vital aspect of the American economy essentially ceased to exist. It ceased to exist on college campuses as well.
But we need what the arts bring us now more than ever. How do we, as artists, respond to those needs in the middle of a pandemic? How do we mentor/educate our students? How do we engage our audiences in new and innovative ways? When will we return to normal, and what will the new normal look like?