COVID19

Washington’s arts and culture sector lost nearly $100M when COVID-19 pandemic hit

By Alice G. Collins 5 months ago

Jan. 28—The corridors of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Browne’s Addition were quiet this week, the closure another casualty of COVID-19’s interruption of the humanities in Washington.

“We just didn’t have staff,” Wesley Jessup, the museum’s executive director, said Thursday. “We didn’t have the capacity.”

The arrival of the omicron variant caused the MAC to close its doors once again and prompted another round of cancellations in an industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic. A study released earlier this month by ArtsFund, a Washington nonprofit advocating for the arts, found that organizations promoting the humanities, culture and sciences in the state, including museums, theaters and artisan guilds, lost nearly $100 million in revenue in the immediate months following the COVID-19 outbreak, and forced 41% of respondents to lay off or furlough workers.

It will likely take years, and significant public investment, to ensure the

… Read More

Will there be a monument to the COVID-19 pandemic?

By Jaime E. Love 2 years ago

Editor’s Note: Dr. Emily Godbey is a professor of art and visual culture at Iowa State University. In this article, she discusses how plague monuments were used to commemorate victims of past disease outbreaks. She also looks at temporary memorials for COVID-19 and examines why plague memorials are not as prolific as war memorials.

Which disease outbreaks have been memorialized around the world?

Diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, the 1918 influenza pandemic (“Spanish Flu”), AIDS, and even SARS have monuments, although some are more modest than others.

They are relatively uncommon, however, when compared with monuments to wars, political regimes, and more visible tragedies, such as 9/11 or the Holocaust. However, they are present in many places.

What are some notable plague monuments and what do they commemorate? 

The bubonic plague broke out several times in different parts of the world between the 6th century BC and the 19th

… Read More

What Will Monuments to the COVID-19 Pandemic Look Like? | Best Countries

By Jaime E. Love 2 years ago

Editor’s Note: Dr. Emily Godbey is a professor of art and visual culture at Iowa State University. In this interview, she discusses how plague monuments were used to commemorate victims of past disease outbreaks, temporary memorials for COVID-19 and why plague memorials are not as prolific as war memorials.

A short history of plague monuments.

What are some of the past disease outbreaks that have been memorialized around the world?

Diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, the 1918 influenza pandemic or “Spanish Flu,” AIDS, and even SARS have monuments, although some are much more modest than others. They are more uncommon when compared with monuments to wars, political regimes, and more visible tragedies such as 9/11 or the Holocaust. However, they are present.

The Plague of Ashdod painting by Poussin. The subject of this painting comes from a story in the Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Bible about the Plague of Ashdod.
Poussin, The Plague of Ashdod, 1630. Poussin painted this during a plague that took place in Italy from 1629 to 1631, which influenced his accurate portrayal of
… Read More

Smithsonian, National Gallery to close as covid-19 cases spike

By Jaime E. Love 2 years ago

Similar shutdowns were announced earlier this week in Philadelphia and Chicago, representing the start of a second wave of shutdowns eight months after covid-19 first prompted widespread closures.

National Gallery of Art Director Kaywin Feldman and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III decided to take action after monitoring the recent rise in coronavirus cases being reported.

“We both expressed growing concern about the increased number of cases in the region and across the country and came to the conclusion that caution needed to prevail to protect our visitors and staff,” Feldman said.

“It can’t help but feel like a step backward,” Feldman said about the decision. “But what’s different this time is we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The prospect of a vaccine lifts our spirits. We have big plans for next year and lots to look forward to. We need to keep people

… Read More