The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Really clear to us what we needed to do’
Arts Council helps members navigate pandemic
LITCHFIELD COUNTY — When Steph Burr started her new job as executive director for the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council in March of 2020, little did she know all the changes that would soon be taking place within the council — and the world.
Due to the pandemic, all inperson opportunities for sales, such as art shows and music gigs, were canceled and artists everywhere were struggling, according to Burke, who quickly jumped on board to help.
“The pandemic really brought us a sense of clarity of the importance of our organization. It was really clear to us what we needed to do in the moment — help our members,” said Burr, in regard to the NWCT, an 18-yearold nonprofit serving 25 towns in and around Litchfield County, whose mission is to build a strong art community.
The first step the council took in response to the pandemic was send out a COVID-impact survey to all its members, to learn how they’re were being affected and what specific challenges they
were facing.
From the survey, the council learned independent contractors and selfemployed workers “were in big, big trouble,” Burr said. “They had no way of applying for unemployment — especially the tattoo artists and hair stylists — they lost all their income, some for almost 12 weeks.”
The NWCT started an artist emergency relief fund. Within one month, they raised over $6,000 for artists who lost their source of income.
“We raised some of this through crowdfunding and some through getting grants,” Burr said.
Twenty-six council members utilized the funds — those who were in the greatest need at the time.
“The funding went out fairly quickly,” Burke said. “We were sending out the funding to artists as it was coming in because we had people that couldn’t pay rent and couldn’t get food.”
‘Digital presence’
Additionally, based upon the survey, the NWCT has been focusing on digitizing artists.
“What we learned was that going digital and helping artists sell online and increase their digital presence is something that’s worthwhile,” she said, adding the need for that is ongoing.
The NWCT recently created a directory of local artists’ E-commerce shops. One of the challenges of having an online shop, according to Burr, is getting the word out about it, so the organization made access to the shops free and accessible to anyone who has an online arts or craft store.
“It’s open to the public, and is permanently on our website,” she said.
Another tech-related project the council got involved with as a result of the pandemic is a tech mentorship program, which pairs tech savvy artists with artists who are in need of assistance.
The NWCT is looking for applicants who need help with technology, and those who are tech savvy — who can offer help.
“We are looking to hire seven artists to virtually tutor seven recipients of this grant,” Burr said. “It could be anything from something as simple as someone who switched from a PC to a MAC and needs help navigating how to use it, up to help with building websites and setting up E-commerce and music streaming platforms.”
Burr added there has been an ongoing need for technology assistance throughout the pandemic.
“We got all different kinds of artists reaching out to saying ‘How do I put my stuff online?’” she said, adding this takes time to learn.
“It’s not really the kind of thing that just takes off overnight. Our artists’ online presence is something that has to be built over years. We saw a lot of artists this year really starting to focus on it and shift in that direction, because that’s the direction that the art world is really going — online,” Burr said. “Internet sales will help supplement artists’-in person art shows, craft fairs, art sales, because it’s now a way for them to be able to promote themselves both online and in person.”
The council is focusing on bringing back its own in-person programming this year. Upcoming events include Make Music Day in June and the Litchfield Hills Creative Festival in August.
There will also be a Litchfield Hills Creative Awards in November, at the Warner Theatre in Torrington. The theme of the event is COVID heroes, celebrating those were creative and innovative through COVID-19.
For more information on the NWCT, which is based in Torrington, visit artsnwct.org.