Feature by Gregory Beatty The lifeblood of arts and culture is public engagement, so when the pandemic first struck last March, says Marnie Gladwell, the effect was immediate. “We did two surveys — one of artists and cultural workers, the other of arts organizations — and found that they’d been hit hard and were reeling,” says Gladwell, who is the executive director of Saskatchewan Arts Alliance (SAA). “And I’m not sure it’s improved a whole bunch since then in what they’ve been able to do.” Not surprisingly, artists and arts organizations rallied, shifting programming online and staging innovative outdoor performances that complied with physical distancing guidelines. Improvisation and adapting under difficult circumstances are, after all, arts sector trademarks.