Arts & Culture

Mary Maxon was out raking hay on her tractor yesterday morning when a beep on her phone alerted her to the good news. The arts organization she runs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota had just been awarded a $50,000 grant through the CARES Act.

As restaurants, museums and movie theaters reopen, the majority of U.S. adults do not yet feel comfortable patronizing them, according to a new national survey.

Across the country, music venues remain closed due to the pandemic — and according to a new survey, 90 percent of independent venue owners, promoters and bookers say that they will have to close permanently within the next few months, if they can't get an infusion of targeted government funding.

Across the state of Ohio, local music venues are struggling as the coronavirus pandemic has forced these entertainment hotspots to keep operations at a standstill. Local musicians who rely on live performances to earn a steady income have suffered with planned concerts canceled or postponed indefinitely.

As different parts of the economy move to reopen, many arts and culture groups are discussing what reopening could look like for museums, theaters and music venues.

“We anticipate that we’ll see museums perhaps being more readily prepared to open sooner than performing arts organizations,” said Megan VanVoorhis, president of Arts Cleveland.

Museums could limit the number of people in galleries through timed entry and direct people to use different entrances, for instance, to space out the number of visitors.