Theatre is ESSENTIAL.
COVID-19 has devastated our industry, and artists and institutions need federal support to survive. We are calling on you to be an #ArtsHero!
Contact your senators to pass the HEROES Act with Dedicated Arts & Culture relief by August 1. Sign the Open Letter to the US Senate and find out what you can do to be an #ArtsHero: https://beanartshero.com/.
The Arts & Culture sector employs 5.1 million people and provides $877 billion value added to the U.S. economy. It adds more value to the economy than transportation, agriculture, or tourism. The Arts & Culture sector is a cornerstone of the larger U.S. economy, making up 4.5% of GDP. Despite their out-sized cultural and economic contribution, the Arts & Culture sector of the U.S. economy is in grave danger.
The National Endowment for the Arts chairman Mary Anne Carter said recently, “Times are drastic. Our Arts organizations are suffering. They don’t know if they’re going to survive, let alone reopen.”
COVID-19 is spiking nationally, meaning Arts & Culture institutions will remain shuttered for the foreseeable future.
In fact, 10% of Arts & Cultural Institutions are “not confident” that they will survive the pandemic (that’s 12,000 organizations). 29% have laid off or furloughed staff.
Furthermore, the common “survival jobs” for Arts workers are in the hospitality and service sectors, which have been almost equally devastated by this crisis. With over 20 million unemployed, the competition for “survival jobs” is fierce; millions will remain unemployed for the foreseeable future.
It’s not just Art & Culture workers, unions, and organizations who are in trouble: administrators, management, hospitality staff, custodians, and countless others depend on Arts & Culture institutions for income are currently relying on the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program to pay their bills. When FPUC ends on August 1st, millions of Arts workers will face instant financial catastrophe, including eviction, which as this Washington Post story reminds us, disproportionately impacts the Black community.
Without immediate relief, institutions themselves will permanently close; causing systemic economic collapse in a vibrant ecosystem of mutually beneficial businesses that all rely on Arts & Culture institutions for their success.
Compounding the tragedy is that millions of arts workers are losing (or have lost) their health insurance during a deadly pandemic; a pandemic that also disproportionately impacts those who are BIPOC.
The situation is nothing less than a full on socioeconomic catastrophe in the making, exacerbating pre-existing inequalities to a desperate and deadly limit.
Contact your senators to pass the HEROES Act with Dedicated Arts & Culture relief by August 1. Sign the Open Letter to the US Senate and find out what you can do to be an #ArtsHero: https://beanartshero.com/.
