Freelance and artists’ groups balk at Cuomo’s star-studded ‘pop-up shows’ Denis Slattery
ALBANY ― Groups representing freelance artists and musicians facing dire straits due to the COVID pandemic are panning Gov. Cuomo’s plan to revitalize New York’s art scene by holding star-studded “pop-up shows” across the state.
The Freelancers Union, the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, the League of Independent Theater and the Music Workers Alliance are calling on the governor to instead raise taxes on the wealthy and create a new Works Progress Administration that could support artists and help get them back to work.
“New York’s performing artists don’t need livestream concerts and comedy shows we need you to end tax breaks for the wealthy and fund our state so we can survive,” the groups wrote in a letter sent to Cuomo.
The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) will hold a benefit show in support of the DIYCHI Mutual Aid fund, which provides much-needed financial relief to members of the underground arts community.
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What has prompted this movement towards collectivism?
Part of it, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic. As work grows increasingly less stable and government aid remains unreliable, those in the arts have recognized the importance of community over competition: museum workers pushing to unionize in Philadelphia; performers mobilizing to strengthen contracts in LA and New York; and entertainers in Santa Fe considering unionization after layoffs or pay cuts. While art has often been framed as an individualistic practice, collectivization could be critical to its survival.
But at the same time, Linares says, artists’ relationship to and reliance on collectives isn’t new.