‘It feels like the world has stopped spinning on its axis’
People working in the arts will be severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Kilmore-based visual artist Serena Caulfield, who has been forced to cancel plans for an exhibition of new work.
‘It feels like the world has stopped spinning on its axis’, said Serena who returned to her home in Kilmore over two weeks ago, having previously divided her time between London and Wexford for an extended period.
‘I’m glad to say this has been a good move and the timing couldn’t have been better, given the circumstances.
‘I’ve been more or less self-isolating in my studio and getting stuck in to making lots of new work, treating the current time of staying at home as a kind of residency.’ However, like many artists, she has missed out on paid work (in London, in her case) and a number of pending jobs have been cancelled. To generate some income, the artist has come up with an offer of 40% discount on any of her works from 2019, available to people signed up to her newsletter.
And she has pledged to purchase a piece of work from another artist, to share some of the income generated, if she gets some sales.
‘We’re all in this together, and we all need to look out for each other now’ she said. Meanwhile, Serena said she is working hard and making the most of her studio time during the current public health crisis.
She had been planning to have an exhibition of new paintings in the near future but that will now have to wait. ‘But on the plus side, there will be an incredible amount of really good work at the end of all this’, said the artist. According to Wexford Arts Centre CEO Elizabeth Whyte, social media which has often come in for negative criticism, is now proving a godsend for artists who have been forced to cancel events and many of them are going online with their exhibitions and performances.
‘We have rescheduled a lot of events and some of them may need to be rescheduled further if the crisis continues but a majority of people have not asked for refunds and are holding onto their tickets for postponed events, so there is great understanding out there.’
Elizabeth said artists who were booked to run the centre’s Little Artists Clubs have been covered for their fees.
‘We are looking at putting creative ideas for children online. We are also putting up promotions of artists and musicians who were scheduled to hold exhibitions and gigs.’
One of the casualties of the coronavirus crisis is the opening of the Living Arts exhibition involving children, which was due to take place this week, following months of professional art workshops in primary schools, and the Arts Centre is hoping to show the young people’s paintings online instead.
A company called Bottoms Dogs Theatre which was due to perform in the centre, staged a live performance online instead. Wexford storyteller Joe Brennan who had an Arts Centre appearance cancelled, also posted a St. Patrick’s Day video of a storytelling performance. on the Arts Centre website.
‘We gave him a fee to do it online. We don’t make money but we are continuing to engage audiences and the hope is that they will attend events when this is all over’, said Elizabeth.
‘Thinking creatively is what artists do best and now they have to consider how best to reach people. There are lots of live concerts online and some have payment links where people can make donations. People are being very good about donating. There is a lot of negative comment about social media but this is a positive thing that’s coming out of it, in keeping us all connected.’
However, she feels that corporate sponsorship of arts organisations and events may now be under threat as companies suffering a major economic impact from Covid-19, will be seeking to cut non-essential expenditure.
Elizabeth said the National Campaign for the Arts, Theatre Forum and Visual Arts Ireland are all offering advice to artists on how to get creative during the current crisis.