The Worcester Cultural Coalition has developed an "action strategy" to help the creative community that will include "acute funding for local artists and small nonprofits," social engagement and advocacy.

The coalition is a public-private partnership between the City of Worcester and more than 80 cultural organizations.

The response as the coronavirus crisis continues comes as cultural organizations and venues large and small (including Mechanics Hall and The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts) are closed, and individual artists face weeks of canceled live gigs or are turning to outlets such as live streaming.

The strength of Worcester is "that there are so many collaborations going on," said Erin I. Williams, Worcester's cultural development officer, in an interview. "There are so many creative ideas being put forth." The intent is "bringing people together" as well as determining the general need "and how we can respond collectively."

Following a meeting of the Worcester Cultural Coalition board, "we now have an action strategy," Williams said.

The strategy is "three-pronged."

First, the WCC is "working with local and state funders and the city, to provide a modest relief fund to support local artists/creatives and smaller nonprofits in acute need. This fund will allow us to offer modest funding for individual to small creative nonprofit organizations."



Secondly, social engagement will include "virtual programming on the WCC website (Worcesterculture.org) to creatively engage residents and provide modes of support for content generated material."

For example, Williams said that during National Poetry Month in April, "we're discussing how we can have virtual poetry slams. It's just another way to bring people together."

Additionally, an "Arts at Home" page is being developed that already has several video collections, with tours, interviews, performances and other content from Worcester-area organizations and individuals that people can view at home and which will be updated regularly.

A "Creative Community Resources" page has a database of resources for arts and cultural organizations and individuals, as well as funders and nonprofits. There are links to national relief efforts for artists such as Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Relief Fund and Corona Relief Fund from Equal Sound for musicians who have lost income due to a canceled gig.

The third component of the WCC action strategy is advocacy "to support our cultural institutions (large and small), the independent artists and the creative sector who are in the gig economy, and seek mitigation and stimulus funding from foundations, individuals, and public support via local, state and federal agencies. In addition, we will continue to serve as communications hub for the creative community. Legislative bills are rolling out on the state and federal level and we are working closely with our partners to ensure representation of the creative sector."



The action strategy comes as the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, has announced the results of a poll it conducted March 16-22 "to begin to understand the economic impact of the COVID-19/Coronavirus public health crisis on the individuals and nonprofits we serve." The Mass Cultural Council said "in just under a week, we heard from 566 cultural nonprofits and 595 individual artists/independent teaching artists-humanists-scientists. The results are striking and demand attention. In just under a week, the Commonwealth’s nonprofit cultural organizations reported a loss of more than $55.7M in revenue. This is not a projection; this is actual lost income reported to date. In the same period, our individual artists and independent teaching artists-humanists-scientists reported a total of more than $2.89M in lost personal income. Again, this is not a projection, it is real data."

The Mass Cultural Council said it is "sharing this data with our legislative partners on Beacon Hill who are considering proposals to offset the disruptive impacts of the Coronavirus and the practice of social distancing will have on the state economy … Together with our advocacy partners, including MASSCreative and Mass Humanities, we call on the State Legislature to remember Massachusetts artists, humanists, scientists and cultural nonprofits as state emergency relief/mitigation packages are developed and advanced."



Williams said, "The arts, interpretive sciences, humanities and creative businesses are an essential component of the state’s economic and social fabric. The WCC is committed to supporting our community in any way we can. And we will continue to advocate for recovery funds for all of these entities. Relief and economic recovery programs developed by the state needs to include artists, independent creative workers and small businesses. Economic recovery or stimulus finds for the arts, cultural and humanities and interpretive sciences need to be equitably distributed across the spectrum of organizational budget size and communities served."

Through it all Williams said it has been "really quite lovely to hear" from individuals and groups "about not only looking to protect their own cultural organization but how can we lift people's spirits."

She quoted the playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht: “In the dark times/ Will there also be singing?/ Yes, there will also be singing./ About the dark times.”



"I think that's what Worcester is embracing right now. City leadership has been really responsive with keeping communication open, but also really responding with action," Williams said.

The ultimate goal is "continue to make art everywhere," she said.