During the coronavirus pandemic, Annette Sykes has been making a picnic blanket. A big picnic blanket.
The Lynn artist, who is president of Galleries At LynnArts, said “It’s gigantic, 15 by 22 feet … once the quarantine is over, I want it to be as big as Red Rock Park. When we can all get together again, I want to have a picnic on this massive blanket for friends from all parts of my life, my fellow teachers at Lynn Tech, and my arts family.”
All players in the tight-knit North Shore arts and culture community are looking forward to the day they can reopen their theaters, music venues, galleries, museums, and the like. They have rallied to help each other during this crisis, while stitching together Plan B’s and rescheduling events that had to be postponed during their venues’ temporary closures.
James Marsh, executive director of Lynn Auditorium, and his staff have been busy rebooking spring shows. All shows through May 22 have been postponed. Concerts by the Beach Boys and Beatles tribute band Rain were canceled because other local venues had booked them for exclusive shows later this year. A Dec. 20 concert by The Irish Tenors has been added and will now feature opening act Mairead Nesbitt, a founding member of Celtic Women, whose St. Patrick’s show in Lynn was postponed.
“The big questions are, one, there is no hard time frame to know when this will end. And, two, will people feel comfortable gathering in a venue like the auditorium or will they still be thinking about social distancing?” said Marsh. “Will they feel comfortable sitting shoulder to shoulder at a Red Sox game or an event at the Wang or the Orpheum or Lynn Auditorium.”
Over at The Cabot in Beverly, executive director Casey Soward faces the same dilemma in this, its 100th anniversary year. “There are a lot of unknowns, when will this end and will people be ready to come back, and go to places like The Cabot and Lynn Auditorium to see concerts and movies. The important thing is that we reopen only when it’s safe.”
Soward said there’s been “lots of reshifting of stuff” and it’s likely the anniversary celebration will extend into 2021.
Soward said the historic theater might reopen by showing only films at first, with customers able to sit far apart. Currently, it’s offering virtual screenings of new films that one can stream at home for the price of one movie ticket. The Cabot has partnered with Magnolia Pictures, and is presenting “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band,” “The Whistlers” and “Slay the Dragon” through April. Response has been good. “It’s a way to support theaters during the pandemic. We get to keep all our net proceeds, even if we can only do it virtually. The revenue helps us pay our staff.”
Community spirit is paramount at Lynn’s Arts After Hours theater company. Samantha Gambaccini, artistic director, said a decision made last year to change the company’s production schedule proved to be fortuitous. This season is set to start in July, so no rehearsals have taken place, no performances had to be canceled, and no fees were paid for the rights to present a certain show.
Arts After Hours’ May 29 10th anniversary gala, however, has been postponed until the fall “if we’re up and running by then. When summer arrives, we will announce our fall show,” said Gambaccini. “When will people be able to meet again, and how much of a buffer will they need after practicing social distancing? Will they be up for intense or serious theater, or would it be a comedy?”
Gambaccini said the company’s immediate mission is to support and aid colleagues at local theaters. The Arts After Hours Facebook page features links to news and online events at other area companies.
Galleries At LynnArts director Sykes said the Spring Fling, its main fundraiser, set to take place April 18, will instead be held in the fall or winter or whenever it’s safe to do so. “We’re OK for now; we’re able to pay our bills. We are looking at grant options, but this is strictly an all-volunteer non-profit organization. We have no paid staff.”
The annual Lynn Public School Art Exhibit, which features works created by students and draws more than 1000 people to the gallery, has been canceled.
GALA’s online presence, however, has burgeoned since the shutdown. Each day, the art of a member is featured on its Facebook page. Every Thursday through April 30 at 6 p.m., a Zoom meeting will be held on its website where either a Critique Circle or how-to seminar led by GALA members will take place. And a call for artists is about to be announced for a postcard project that calls for the creation of 5-by-7-inch pieces of art that are to be mailed to GALA. The works will be shown online only at first, with a gallery showing at a grand reopening celebration to follow.
Doneeca Thurston, director of the Lynn Museum, said the organization closes down for the winter every year to fine-tune exhibits, organize the collection, and do research. Its Toast of Lynn Breakfast, scheduled for April 14, will be rescheduled.
Before city schools closed, students from Lynn Woods Elementary, Lincoln-Thomson, Sisson and St. Pius toured the museum and participated in its History Detectives classes. Those are on hold now, as is a Teen Scene history project for students ages 11 to 15. “With the superintendent (Dr. Patrick Tutwiler) saying schools might not reopen this year, those programs likely will not either,” said Thurston.
The museum board and Thurston have looked into the Paycheck Protection Program and grants targeted for arts and culture organizations to help financially. Rentals of the historic building are a major revenue source for the museum, but the statewide no-more-than-10-person order put an end to that. Yearly memberships are available, and donation info is on the website, Thurston said.
Carolyn Cole, director of the Downtown Lynn Cultural District (DLCD), said the organization had “hit this great stride, momentum was at its highest” when the crisis hit. ArtWeek, a statewide celebration of the arts scheduled for early May has been canceled. Cole said Lynn was to be a major participant this year. “It was important to us, but the creative community will do what it does best, get creative.”
There is help available to struggling artists, Cole said. Ten $1,000 grants will soon be awarded to local artists whose Canvas the City proposals impressed. “The criteria was to create public art anywhere in the city that would engage the community, be positive and inclusive. That will still happen.” Stipends are also available from the DLCD to spark creativity.
A Mass Cultural Council reported that from March 16-22, the state’s nonprofit cultural organizations reported a loss of more than $55.7 million in revenue and individual artists reported more than $2.89 million in lost personal income. Cole said the Essex County Community Foundation, through its Essex County Artist Fund and COVID-19 Response Fund, is providing financial and other support to artists during these uncertain times.“We keep doing the leg work so we’re ready to go when things are back to normal. I hope what we’re going through inspires something big, and bold and beautiful.”
Tia Cole, an artist and active member of the North Shore’s artistic community, is working with Beverly-based Miranda’s Hearth to create “care packages” for Lynn artists, which she will deliver. She also hosted a “Make Soap Without Melting Your Face” online tutorial for Brickyard Collective and helped create an Art Walk for Lynn Main Streets: “We didn’t have a chance to promote it” when COVID-19 hit, she said. Cole added that Lynn Cultural Council grants are going out this week to city artists.
North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly has postponed its pre-season shows, but “Mamma Mia” is, for now, scheduled to go on May 5-17. The musical season is to officially begin June 2-14 with “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” The theater’s costume department is making face masks, to honor NSMT’s General Manager Karen Nascembeni, a Lynnfield resident, who remains in critical condition battling COVID-19.
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem has closed and postponed/canceled all events through April 30. It offers online galleries and videos on its Facebook page.
ReachArts, the community arts center in Swampscott, is temporarily closed. The me&thee in Marblehead has canceled all of its spring concerts, and the annual Marblehead Festival of Arts in canceled for 2020.
