Joanna S. Ballantine: ‘Together, we must support and save the arts’
Gateway City Arts is shown Jan. 19, 2018 in Holyoke. FILE PHOTO
Published: 12/16/2020 12:22:52 PM
The headline this week was “Just Heartbroken: Gateway City Arts shutters in pandemic,” and a few weeks ago “Jacob’s Pillow Tragedy, Doris Duke Theatre lost in fire.”
Small studios are suffering and closing their doors. Our music venues remain closed, and dancers are performing end-of-semester concerts on Zoom live from their living rooms asking us to buy tickets to support huge budget gaps. The other day, Gov. Baker rolled back openings, including museums, given the surge in COVID cases. This is beyond painful, and we must do everything we can to support the artists in our midst and arts and cultural institutions in our region. As former vice president for The Trustees Western Region overseeing many cultural institutions like Fruitlands Museum and Naumkeag, the daughter of the former Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts and Professor Emeritus of Dance at UMass and the mother of a budding young dancer, I know firsthand that arts and cultural institutions are our lifeblood. The artists in our region are essential workers, and many are out of work, not able to do their craft or creating amazing work and showcasing it for very little support on Zoom.