Coronavirus and the Artist: Impact and Resources to Maintain Craft and Mind
While I am sitting in my living room watching the much anticipated Disney Sing-Along on ABC, I am reminded of the impact of the arts and the artist during the coronavirus. The arts are visibly impacting many during this pandemic, but how does Coronavirus actually impact the artists trying to create? With the help of some research, I’m going to find out and offer some helpful resources during this time!
As a society that thrives on human connection, the people who rely on it the most are artists. Our livelihood and careers rely on human interaction. At the start of the safer at home order, many of my peers and colleagues experienced complete devastation that we would not be returning to finish our semester in a classroom or studio—I imagine there is likely a similar effect on young artists in the professional world as well.
After I conducted a survey across multiple social media platforms, collecting data from many different social status’ under the same umbrella term “young artist,” I noticed that the arts are recognized as important, yet many young artists are struggling to create on their own.
Based on the results, 100 percent of young artists recognize the increased importance the arts has on our society now, but only 47 percent feel that they are engaged with the arts, and 64 percent say that they do not have the motivation to practice their artistry at this time. While I am no doctor or psychologist, I can clearly see the seemingly odd disconnect between the artist and the importance of art during this Coronavirus pandemic.
Mental health seems to be the barrier between arts connectivity / importance, and performance. In their daily lives, most artists already struggle with some sort of mental health exhaustion. They are told to modify and keep going—even if there are safe and healthy mental health practices at play. The addition of the Safer at Home orders added a third or fourth layer to the already complex lives of artists. 67 percent of young artists said that they strongly agree that their mental health is being affected by this pandemic while only 7 percent said that they strongly disagree.
This information will obviously be old news to some, but for many, maybe some that aren’t particularly artists themselves, this comes as a surprise. And for artists, this is the battle we are now fighting, but we will win. There has to be some way to incorporate mental health and physical practice of art, right?
I asked these young artists to share what resources they were using to maintain a healthy attitude and engage with their community. I’ve collected the most popular options for you as resources to continue with even outside of Coronavirus. While these resources aren’t necessarily all about mental health or all about art, the physical practice of art and the familiarity of others doing it should give some the motivation, or at least a bit of happiness, they need to keep going until we can finally meet together again in a studio, classroom or stage.
1) YouTube
The epicenter of many different art forms all in one!
Want to see some stars get vocal coached and maybe learn a little too? Visit Cheryl Porter’s Vocal Coach page! She even coaches James Charles!
Want to learn a few more dance moves? Head to Broadway Dance Center’s page and take watch / take classes ranging from beginners leaps and turns all the way to advanced hip hop combinations!
Pretend you are at The National Theatre! The National Theatre’s YouTube page offers a variety of sources from production videos to interviews with actors and designers and separates them out by show to give you an immersive experience! Click here to access their YouTube page.
2) Other Social Sources
Head over to LaDuca Shoes @laducashoes to take some online, live classes on instagram every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3 p.m. EST. They offer a variety of classes from theatre dance to ballet barre and everything in between, oftentimes with multiple classes of the same genre with different teachers! New perspective every time!
The pop artist, Tori Kelly offers instagram live Q and A sessions with her and her dog as well as live performances for an hour once or twice a week to motivate, inspire and spread joy and love to all. Follow her page @torikelly on instagram.
San Diego State University is offering online zoom interviews with leading industry professionals all the way through May 6, and the interviews are recorded and stored online for future access! They are offered every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1-3 p.m. EST. You can see the full schedule of events as well as the archive of past interviews on their SDSU’s Interview Website.
A more local approach, a professional theatre company in South Bend, IN called Art4 is making short PSA’s on the importance of staying home that are meaningful, impactful and just funny to brighten your day. Along with this, they are partnering with local artists to create a new musical theatre song every Sunday. The program is called Showtunes Sunday. Check out their Facebook page here to see all updates and watch past videos!
Seth Rudetsky and spouse James Wesley host Stars in the House daily at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. EST. They have had stars such as Laura Benanti, David Lindsay-Abaire, Jane Lynch and Jessie Mueller. It consists of a Q and A and sometimes live performances by the guest artists all to support The Actors Fund and its services! You can learn more about this program on their website.
3) The Powerhouses
Steppenwolf in Chicago, IL is offering free virtual programs to early career professionals to talk about entering the career world and what is expected of artists / arts administrators when they are just starting out. Tune in from 12-1 p.m. every Tuesday. For more information about how to RSVP and the other virtual programs offered click here. As stories and connection are more important than ever, they also have a recently started podcast called Half Hour. To check that out click here.
Digital Theatre Plus. Although this requires a subscription if you are not affiliated with a university, these productions are some of the finest productions you will see. If you don’t think you have a subscription, don’t rule it out right away! Check your University or College’s library website to see if they have purchased a student-wide plan! For more information on DTP, click here.
National Theatre began to stream iconic plays such as Twelfth Night and Treasure Island on their Youtube page along with their normal programming. Check out the performance of Treasure Island here. Enjoy these productions, as they are display of fine work and great artistry for free!
4) Inspiration in Film: Documentaries
While there are MANY other documentaries, these are my favorites:
1) AMY. This documentary follows the deep, dark and extremely emotional life of vocal powerhouse and singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse. After watching this, you will appreciate Amy’s music more than you ever have before and it will most likely start a healthy conversation on mental health awareness and community support during your beginning career. This documentary can be found on Netflix
2) Fosse / Verdon. While this is not necessarily a documentary, it represents the complex and detrimental lives of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. These superstars of the Broadway world in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s had a much more complicated life than one would imagine. From lying and cheating in the real world, to the disastrous truths of the show business, this limited series reveals it all.
3) Gaga: Five Foot Two. While Lady Gaga is not recognized as a Broadway star, her talents make her a considerable candidate for almost any genre. This documentary focuses on the hardships endured while constantly being in the spotlight and is a reminder for all aspiring artists to keep your community/fans close and your friends and family closer. Gaga: Five Foot Two is a humbling display of the artist at work.
4) Too Young to Die: Judy Garland. Judy Garland is one of the greats and yes, she was gone too soon. In this documentary, follow the young artists career and pitfalls. It will probably bring you to tears, but will give you a deep appreciation of how far we have come in the industry regarding injustice and an understanding of just how much further we need to go.
This list is what young artists are using on a daily basis to help cope though this difficult time. I hope it provides some resources that are otherwise, unknown to you. If there are ones that are familiar, please consider this a reminder that they are available resources to continue your growth as an artist!
If there are any other resources that are important to you, please contact me directly and I will be sure to include it in a future post!
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